Shadow's Regret
by Marik Female Double
Summary: Misuki reunites with Shadow only to find that he is working for Eggman. She does her best to bring him back to her side, but her first few attempts are a failure. Later Shadow finds out Eggman's deception and goes against him. characters are humans
1. The Return

**One: The Return**

**Misuki:** "You won't get away from me, Eggman!" Misuki sped up, trying to catch the giant robot being controlled by Dr. Eggman. Once she was within a few hundred minutes from it, Misuki jumped in the air and kicked the robot in the center of its spine, creating a giant dent and causing the robot to collapse to the ground. "Is that all you've got?"

Eggman ejected his pod from the robot and faced her. "I'm just getting started, girl! That Chaos Emerald you have inside you will be mine!"

"Just try and take it from me, Egg-face!" She taunted Eggman before charging after him.

"As you wish!" Just as he said that, his Egg-ship appeared in the sky and began shooting lasers all over the place. Misuki could barely get away from them while Eggman laughed maniacally. "It's only a matter of time before you have nowhere to run!" Misuki realized he was right; she soon became helpless and was running out of options.

'I have to think of something quick!' As much as she tried to think of a plan, Misuki knew she was doomed. While she went through her brain to come up with a plan of escape, a laser blasted her into the air and threw her a few feet away from where she got blasted. When she tried to get up, she saw Eggman hovering over her with the guns aimed right at her.

"Any last words, my dear?" he laughed.

Misuki remained silent, staring at him as the laser charged up for a final attack. Just as it did, the laser exploded and disconnected from the ship. Both Eggman and Misuki looked up in confusion. "Oops, sorry Eggman! It looks like I broke your toy!"

"Who said that?" They looked up to see a figure jump from Eggman's ship.

"You forgot about me, Eggman? That's not very nice."

Misuki recognized that voice anywhere. "Sonic, it's you!" she exclaimed, standing up.

"Sorry we took so long. We ran into some trouble."

Behind Misuki, the X Tornado descended and revealed Knuckles and Tails who were waving. Knuckles jumped out of the jet and got in front of Misuki. "Are you okay, Misuki?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Now let's take down Eggman!"

"You little pests won't take me down that easily!" Eggman typed on some buttons in his pod, making it transform into another robot that was bigger and loaded with more weapons. "Try taking me on now!"

"With pleasure, Eggman!" Knuckles charged head on at Eggman and began bashing at its invincible armor. Misuki followed behind him, jumping in the air and tried to go after Eggman head on, but they were reflected back by the swing of his fist. Misuki landed on top of Knuckles.

"Hey Knuckles, are you okay?" she asked, struggling to get off of him.

"Don't worry about it." He wheezed from his abs being crushed. "It'll…take more than that to do me in." Misuki helped him off the ground. "Focus on Eggman!"

Eggman laughed again at watching Misuki and Knuckles struggling to get on their feet. "That was almost too easy!" In the middle of his gloating, Eggman felt a giant force push his robot to the ground. He turned around to see Sonic land on his feet with a cocky smile on his face. "You sneaky little rat!" he growled.

"Did you forget about me again, Eggman? That hurts." Misuki sat back with Knuckles and watched Eggman and Sonic go at each other. Sonic had Eggman on the ropes.

'Sonic has more fight in him than I thought.' She thought to herself. "Hey Knuckles, what do you say we give Sonic a hand?"

"I'm right behind you." Knuckles charged right next to Misuki and attacked Eggman in the front while Sonic continued attacking it from the back. Eggman was completely surrounded and soon became a giant pinball.

They continued attacking till Eggman became annoyed and decided to go to drastic measures. "I've had just about enough of you brats!" Eggman activated his force field, which caused Misuki and the others to bounce off the armor and back on the ground. "You want to play games? Very well then!" The robot used a jetpack to lift in the air and fly away. "Before I go, I have a special surprise for you, Misuki. Consider this a gift from me." As he continued to fly away, a pod shot out from the abdomen of the robot, landing directly in front of them.

"What did he mean by that?" Knuckles asked, stepping closer to the pod.

"Whatever he meant, it can't be good." Misuki said as the pod slowly opened. "Something's coming out!" Misuki took one step closer to get a good look at the figure coming out. When the figure was finally out, Misuki froze at who it was. "It can't be." Her eyes widened and her heart stopped for a quick second.

"It's been a long time…Misuki." The figure said, smiling evilly.

"It's you…Shadow."

"Did she just say Shadow?" Knuckles asked, not believing it.

"Been a while since we've seen him." Sonic said.

Misuki still couldn't believe Shadow was standing in front of her. "Shadow, is it really you?" she asked. After she did, Shadow rushed toward her and kneed her. But Misuki was able to block it with her hands, stopping his attack in midair. "Wait Shadow, don't you remember me?"

Shadow didn't answer her. Instead, he pushed away from her block and quickly got behind her, hitting her directly in the spine. Misuki went down hard, unable to move because of the pain from the blow. She looked up at Shadow who was grinning with amusement. "You're not as fast as I thought you were." He said. "I was hoping you'd be a stronger opponent."

"If you want me to get serious, then I'll show you what I'm capable of!" Misuki made a quick recovery and began attacking Shadow endlessly. She wasn't as fast as Shadow was, but she was able to keep up with him. 'He's gotten a lot faster than before.' She thought to herself. 'But I can't give up. I have to break through his defenses somehow.' There was only one way to throw Shadow off, although it was the one attack Misuki did not want to use on him. But she had no other choice. She gathered all of her energy and directed it into her fists until they began glowing a bright red. "This ends now, Shadow!" She unleashed the punch, hitting Shadow point blank in the chest. The force she produced made Shadow fly through the air and land a few feet away on his back. Misuki saw the look on his face and saw that he wasn't fazed at all by her attack.

Shadow chuckled as he looked up at her. "It looks like you did gain more power. I'm actually impressed." He stood up, wiping the dirt from his face and dusting off his clothes.

"Shadow, why are you doing this? You do remember me, don't you?" she asked again.

"I remember you," Shadow finally answered. "that's why I've come to retrieve you."

Misuki took two steps backwards, not understanding what he was talking about.

"Eggman sent me here to capture you so he can use the power that you hold inside of you."

Misuki froze, feeling her heart pound loudly in her chest. "You want the Chaos Emerald!" She clenched her chest and felt herself trembling. "You're going to hand me over to Eggman!?"

"You catch on quickly." He said as he slowly began approaching her. "Now come quietly, and don't try anything funny."

Misuki could've defended herself and attacked him again, but her last attack left her drained of energy. Just as she was about to start running for her life, Knuckles and Sonic jumped in the middle and blocked Shadow from getting to Misuki. "Not so fast, Shadow!" Knuckles exclaimed. "If you want to get to Misuki, you'll have to go through us first!"

"Misuki, head for the X Tornado! We'll hold Shadow off as long as we can." Sonic ordered, not taking his eyes off Shadow.

"I'm not leaving you here!" she exclaimed back. "I don't want you guys getting hurt because of me!"

"We'll be alright." Knuckles reassured her smiling. "All that matters is that you stay safe. Hurry and go…now!"

Tails suddenly came around in the X Tornado, opening the main hatch for Misuki to climb in. "Hurry Misuki! Get onboard!" he exclaimed over the engine of the jet.

"We'll catch up with you as soon as we can." Sonic said.

Misuki gave up and headed to the jet. Before she jumped in, she turned back to Sonic and Knuckles and shouted, "Be careful you guys!" The last thing Misuki saw before she headed toward the X Tornado was Sonic holding a thumbs up sign and smiling. Misuki leapt into the jet with Tails and took off as far away from the battlefield as possible. As Misuki looked out the window and saw Shadow standing there, she began thinking back to when she and Shadow were inseparable and how she always saw him as an older brother. 'What's happened to you, Shadow?' she thought to herself. She knew she had to break Eggman's hold over him anyway she could.

"Hey Misuki, are you alright?" Tails asked, breaking Misuki away from her daydreaming.

"Yeah, don't worry about me. I just have some cuts and bruises but I'm fine."

"If we make it out of this, I'm sure Espio will be glad to patch you up."

"That's sounds like a plan to me." Just as Misuki said that, the jet violently shook and almost went straight into the ground. Misuki quickly grabbed the back of Tails' chair, gripping it with massive force. "What the hell was that?" she asked.

"Eggman's trying to blast us out of the sky!" Tails made a sharp turn to try and avoid the blasts and maneuver around Eggman the best he could.

"You little brats aren't getting away that easily!" he exclaimed. "I will take that Emerald of yours Misuki, if it's the last thing I do!"

"Don't count on it, Egg-head!" Misuki exclaimed back. She noticed he fired another missile, but Tails managed to dodge it completely.

"I can't keep this up forever! We have to find a way to get Eggman off out tail!"

At that point, Misuki had an idea that would force Eggman to retreat. "Tails, are the guns on this jet ready to use?"

"Uhh…sure, but why?" Tails asked, still maneuvering around Eggman.

"If I can aim it at the right spot, I can get Eggman to retreat. Just power up the guns and leave the rest to me." Misuki lowered the hatch and grabbed hold of the gun that came up from behind the passenger seat. She took hold of it and aimed it straight at Eggman's ship. "Okay Tails, I need you to try your best to fly this thing as straight as you can!"

"I'll do my best!"

Misuki aimed the gun directly at the engine of the ship, trying to get a good shot at it. "Almost got it." It locked onto the target a minute later. "Fire!" Misuki quickly took the shot and fired a red laser. She watched as the shot hit its target, causing Eggman's ship to smoke and go down.

"You did it, Misuki!" Tails exclaimed.

"It was too close for comfort." She admitted, letting out a sigh of relief. "Now let's go get Sonic and Knuckles." At her command, Tails turned the jet around and headed back to where Sonic and Knuckles were fighting Shadow. When they got there, Shadow was the only one standing. Misuki saw his smirk as Sonic and Knuckles struggled to get up.

"Shadow, let's retreat for now." Eggman said, barely holding up his ship. "Meet me back at the base." Eggman took off on his own with the back of his ship smoking uncontrollably.

Just before Shadow was about to follow behind, Misuki jumped out of the ship and confronted Shadow one last time. "Shadow, it's not too late!" she called out to him. She stepped closer to him and looked him in his eyes. "Please Shadow…don't go back with Eggman."

Shadow stared at her for a while, and then smiled. "Next time we see each other, I will capture you and present you to Eggman." After he said that, Shadow quickly dashed away in the same direction as Eggman.

Misuki did not move from her spot. All she could do was stare out and wonder why Shadow was working for Eggman. 'Will you really hand me over to Eggman, Shadow?' she asked herself. 'What happened to you after you disappeared?'

As she pondered her mind about Shadow, Misuki felt a hand touch her shoulder. She looked up to see Sonic smiling at her as he wiped her tears away. "There's no reason to cry. Shadow will be back to his old self again in no time. Just keep calling out to him, and I'm sure he'll come to his senses."

"You really think so?" Misuki asked.

"I promise."

With his smile, Misuki had no reason to doubt Sonic. She was going to take his advice and keep reaching out to Shadow until Eggman's hold on him broke.


	2. Face to Face

**Two: Face to Face**

**Shadow:** The moment Eggman finally made it back to the Egg-base, Shadow was waiting for him at the entrance. "Welcome back, Doctor." He said.

"Those fools will pay for this! Especially that Misuki!" The pod he was in finally crashed and fell apart, causing Eggman to fall to the ground. "Egg-bots begin repairs on my ship at once!" In the blink of an eye, Eggman's robots swarmed and started stripping the old armor and replacing it with spare parts. "You need to be repaired too, Shadow." He looked at Shadow and saw some of the damage he took from his fight with Misuki.

While recovering, Shadow kept replaying the battle over and over in his head, astonished at how much power Misuki managed to gain.

"Is something troubling you, Shadow? You've been awfully quiet."

"Everything's just fine." He answered. "I'm just impressed at how strong Misuki got over the course of time. She's just as dedicated as her father."

"You're right, she might be a tough opponent. But I'm sure you can take her."

Shadow chuckled as he stood up fully recovered and ready for action. "Count on it."

He headed towards his room to prepare for the next attack. On his way, he started having flashbacks of the very first time he had met Misuki. He clearly saw her warm smile and the gentle way she took his hand. 'What's going on?' he kept thinking to himself until he collapsed to his knees, grunting in pain. Shadow didn't understand why he was seeing this memory, nor why it decided to come to him out of nowhere. After seeing five minutes of his past life, his body finally relaxed as the memories ended. He found himself panting out of control, while sweat poured down his face. "What the hell just happened to me?" He wiped sweat from his face and continued on to his room. The second he got there, he laid on his bed, trying to figure out what that vision meant. 'Why did I all of a sudden have a flashback of Misuki and her father?' he asked himself. 'I abandoned my old life when I ran away from that lab. I will never go back to that place, and I will get my revenge.'

While Shadow was deep in thought, a message came from Eggman over the intercom. "Shadow, your training will commence in four hours. Just enough time for you to rest up."

"I'll be there." Some of the things in Shadow's past were things he chose to forget and leave behind. But…there were also certain things that he just plain forgot when he joined forces with Eggman. It didn't matter to him though, because he just kept telling himself that they didn't matter, and they'd just get in the way of his plans. But Misuki was the one person that Shadow could not forget about. "Misuki, you're the only memory I can't get rid of." He began saying to himself. "But soon that won't be a problem." As Shadow rested up before his training session, he began dreaming about Misuki and her father. He remembered the smile she always wore whenever she was with him and the warmth of her hand when he held it.

After he woke up to prepare himself, Shadow realized that the reason he couldn't forget Misuki, was because she was one of his memories that didn't cause him pain. But then again, whenever he remembered her, he also remembered how the others treated him. The scientists only saw him as an experiment, and a tool for them to use. It was because of those memories that he wanted to erase Misuki and everyone else who had to do with his creation. "I will no longer be used. I will have my revenge."

During his training, all Shadow saw was Misuki's innocent face which distracted him several times. The android he was fighting knocked him down several times while he was trapped in the past. Finally, Shadow got back in the game and took the android out with one single punch. Its circuits exploded from its chest as it crashed down to the ground and flat lined. "That was brilliant as always, Shadow." Eggman applauded. "I expected you to finish off a bit quicker, but still it was a good performance."

"My apologies, Doctor. I got distracted from the target." Shadow took the towel Eggman handed him and wiped the sweat from his face.

"I understand." Eggman said. "It was those horrible memories from your past. They won't bother you anymore, because I've just come up with a brilliant plan to help you exact your revenge." Shadow didn't know what the Doctor meant by that, but he was willing to follow any orders given to him if it meant seeing his plan through to the end.

**Misuki:** "You stupid moron! I can't believe you did that!" Misuki heard a loud ruckus coming from the kitchen as she was talking to Sonic.

When they went to see what was going on, they found Knuckles pinning down Vector in the middle of the kitchen where the table was supposed to be. Charmy was laughing at Vector being tortured; while Espio just sat back not doing anything to stop the situation. "What in the world is going on here?" Sonic asked. "This place is a total mess."

"Vector ate a slice of cake I bought for Misuki, and I'm trying to force him to cough it up!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"Hey, it was up for grabs! I didn't see any label on it saying it belonged to anyone else."

"You blind moron! I wrote 'To Misuki, from Knuckles' in big black letters! They were even underlined three times!"

"If Vector's hungry, his brain completely shuts down and loses all abilities to think." Espio said.

"That's right! That's right!" Charmy repeated his statement twice, while continuing to laugh.

Misuki couldn't take this insanity anymore, so she finally stepped in and separated Knuckles from Vector. "Okay that's enough you two! You're gonna wreck the ship at this rate." She then turned to Knuckles and smiled at him. "Knuckles, it was really sweet to get me something to try and cheer me up. I really appreciate it, and I bet it was a delicious cake. Thanks for caring about my feelings."

Knuckles did his best to hide his red face. "Uhh, it…it was no problem. I mean…I couldn't stand seeing you hurt the way you were when you saw Shadow so I thought…"

"You thought sweets would make me feel better." She giggled at watching him struggle to speak what he was thinking. "I'm already feeling one hundred percent better, because of your compassion. You're the best, Knuckles." She ran up and gave him a giant hug, which almost made Knuckles lose his balance completely. After she let go, Misuki left the kitchen. "I still have some things left to do, so I'm gonna get back to work and then maybe take a little nap. See you later." The truth was Misuki wasn't fine with everything. She still couldn't believe that Shadow actually went and sided with Eggman. That thought alone crushed her heart into a million pieces that cake couldn't fix. When she got back to her room, she pulled out an old picture of her and Shadow from when she was only eight years old. It was taken three months after Shadow was created. "Shadow, what caused you to change? Why were you filled with so much anger and hate?"

While talking to herself, Sonic entered her room. "So you were lying."

Misuki jumped up at the sight of Sonic. "Hey, don't burst into someone's room without permission! It's rude!" She quickly hid the photo under her pillow so Sonic wouldn't see it.

"You're still hurt about Shadow betraying you. You may be able to hide it from everyone else, but I've been around you long enough to tell when you're lying about your feelings, Misuki." He sat down beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Misuki did her best to fight off her tears while talking to Sonic. "I never thought Shadow was capable of harboring that much rage and anger. I know Eggman said something to him, but I want to know what. I can't let Shadow suffer like this. I…I just can't…"

Sonic spotted a small tear leave Misuki's eye and wiped it away. "He's just not thinking straight. I'm sure if you talk to him, he'll come to his senses."

"But how do I know what to say to him? What words should I use to get through to him?"

"Don't worry about that now." Sonic told her, smiling. "The words will come to you before you know it. Trust me." Misuki found herself smiling again, with faith in herself and Shadow. "There's that smile everyone loves. Never let go of it."

Misuki nodded. "I won't. Thanks for everything, Sonic."

Sonic gave her a thumbs up before saying, "I'll let you rest now. You've had a rough day." After he left, Misuki looked out her window and stared out into the deep void of space, thinking about when she first met Shadow. At first she was afraid of him, and wouldn't go anywhere near him. But in time, Misuki began to grow to love Shadow and soon became friends with him.

'I'll bring you back, Shadow.' She thought to herself. 'I swear to you I will.' Misuki soon fell asleep, dreaming sweat dreams of the past and what is to come in the future when she was reunited with Shadow.

Misuki was awoken by the blaring alarm two hours later. She stood up, trying to figure out what was going on. "Tails, what's happening?!" She contacted Tails through her wrist watch.

"Misuki, there's an intruder onboard! Just stay where you are! Sonic and Knuckles are headed your way! Whatever you do, don't leave your room!"

"I got it! You be careful too." After she hung up, Misuki began pondering on who it was that broke onto the ship. She knew that Eggman was nowhere to be found, plus there was no way he'd launch another attack right after they just took care of him. "If it's not Eggman…then who?" That's when the answer came to her. "Could it be…Shadow?" The thought instantly came into her head, and then there was no turning back. "That's the only other possibility." She wanted to check for herself, but wasn't sure if she should risk the possibility of the intruder not being Shadow. But in her heart, Misuki felt that she had to investigate this on her own. She left the safety of her room, and ran down the hallway to look for Shadow. She wasn't going to get another chance like this ever again. Confronting Shadow upfront would clear everything up between them. After running aimlessly for what seemed like an eternity, Misuki suddenly spotted a dark figure directly in front of her. She came to an abrupt stop and stared at it to see what it could be. "Who's there?" she asked, taking one more step towards the figure. "How did you get on this ship?"

Finally it answered her. "It's a piece of cake for the ultimate weapon." The figure's voice made Misuki drop her guard.

"It is you." She whispered as the figure approached her. "Shadow, I knew it was you." She wanted to smile and be happy, but something inside her wouldn't let her end things like that. "Shadow, what are you doing here?"

Instead of answering, Shadow rushed toward Misuki in a gust of wind and knocked her out unconscious.

**Shadow:** Misuki collapsed into Shadow's arms and passed out. "I'm here for you." He whispered.

"Let her go you bastard!" Knuckles came from behind Shadow and attacked him. But Shadow dodged his attack, while pulling out a Chaos Emerald.

"Wish I could stick around, but I'm on a schedule. We'll settle this next time. CHAOS CONTROL!" Shadow vanished from Sonic's and Knuckles' sights, escaping with Misuki. When he returned to Eggman, he presented Misuki to him. "The mission was successful, Doctor. The girl is ours now."

Eggman laughed with joy and delight. "I knew I could count on you, Shadow. Now that we have her, we can use her power to not only locate the other Emeralds, but also call upon the power of the Master Emerald and take over the galaxy! Let the experiment begin." Shadow placed Misuki in the heart of Eggman's dooms day device, and switched it on. The machine whirred and rumbled, extracting Misuki's energy from deep inside. But after only a minute, it malfunctioned and went into shut down mode. "What happened? My beautiful machine is destroyed!"

While Eggman had a tantrum about his machine, Shadow stared at the unconscious Misuki. He remembered when he fought her, and the incredible energy she was able to unleash at once. 'You have more power that I thought.' He thought to himself. 'You were holding back when we fought.'

"It seems I underestimated the amount of energy the red Chaos Emerald gave her." Eggman finally came back to his senses and stood next to Shadow. "We'll have to try again, but make sure she's awake, and in control of her powers. For now, take her to the holding chamber. And make sure to keep a close eye on her."

"Understood." Shadow removed Misuki from the machine and carried her to the holding chamber under Eggman's orders. Once he was there, he set her down in the bed and watched her sleep. "It won't be long now. I'll have my revenge on everyone who betrayed me." Shadow all of a sudden began having another vision from the past. This one was with him and Misuki spending time at the park. Shadow pushed her on the swings and played soccer with her until the sun went down. The last vision he saw was of him carrying Misuki on his back while she slept all the way home. Shadow found himself in a panic, twitching around the floor like a fish out of water. When he realized where he was again, he got to his knees and leaned against the wall across from the bed, trying his best to catch his breath. 'These visions again; why am I having them?' As he thought about his recent visions of the past, Shadow continued staring at Misuki's peaceful sleeping face. She seemed radiant, but Shadow was still bent on taking the Chaos Emerald's power from her and leaving her dried up and with nothing.

"Where…am I?" Shadow looked to see Misuki finally wake up.

"You're finally awake. That's good." He watched as shock fell upon her face and stared deeply into his eyes. "Maybe I should've gone easier on you when I captured you."

"What do you mean…captured?"


	3. The Truth

**Three: The Truth**

**Misuki:** "What's going on, Shadow? Why am I here?" Misuki's heart began racing faster than she could count. She tried to calm her breathing but it didn't help. She was filled with both happiness and fear.

"I brought you here upon the Doctor's request." He answered. "He's very interested in your power; just as I am." He stood up and walked toward Misuki, who stood where she was frozen by his cold gaze. "The Chaos Emerald inside you is all we want. What happens to you after we take it isn't our concern."

Those words made Misuki's heart stop completely. She never thought that Shadow would say something like that to her. "Shadow…I can't believe that you…" She couldn't even finish her words. The shock took her over to the point where her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground, staring at his feet. She began crying endless tears that splashed around her. The person that she trusted and loved with all her heart had been consumed by a deep darkness that light couldn't even escape from.

"I suggest you get used to this place." Shadow said as he walked out of the room. "Until we get what we want from you, you'll be here for a long while. So consider this your new home." Shadow left Misuki to cry on the floor, and trap herself in endless sorrow.

When she finally stopped crying, Misuki stood back up and remembered what Sonic told her. 'There's no point in crying.' She thought to herself. 'I have to get Shadow to come back to me one way or another. This is my mission and mine alone. I have to see it to the end.'

Later, Shadow returned to see Misuki sitting on the bed with her knees tucked in and wrapped around her arms. The second she saw him, Misuki looked up with a confident face, ready to get to the bottom of this situation.

Shadow knew she was different the second he stepped into the room. Her energy emanated all over the place. He stood a few feet away from the door, un-phased by her change of attitude. "You look confident. Finally given into the reality that you're helpless to do anything in your position?"

Misuki held her ground as she stood up and took three steps toward Shadow. She stared at him with intensity, remembering the kind person he used to be before all this happened. Taking a long deep breath, she came out and spoke what she was thinking. "Shadow, I want you to tell me everything. Tell me what caused you to act like this."

They stared at each other for a long period of time, trying to read each other's minds. Misuki saw that Shadow was impressed by her will and intimidation. "There'll be plenty of time for that later." He chuckled, crossing his arms and smiling. "Right now, the Doctor requests your presence. We're going to take another crack at taking your energy. Just come with me, and I won't hurt you." Misuki had no other choice but to do what he said. She remembered their last battle, and how Shadow was barely affected by her attacks. Fighting him then and there would've been not only pointless but also stupid. But still, she was ready for whatever Eggman had in store for her. When they finally got to the lab, Misuki saw that Eggman was tinkering with the device that she only guessed that she'd be hooked to. "Doctor, I brought the girl." Shadow bowed to him, keeping a good grip on Misuki's shoulder to prevent her from escaping.

She stared at Shadow as he bowed his head to Eggman. 'It's worse than I thought.' She thought. 'Shadow, you really gave your entire being to Eggman didn't you?'

"So, we meet again Misuki Hikotsu." Eggman approached them, smiling.

The sight of Eggman made Misuki's blood come to a full boil. She did her best to contain her power so Shadow wouldn't sense it. "You're still as creepy and disgusting as ever, Egg-head. No wonder my father cut you from the project all those years ago." She put on a smile because her words were affecting him more than she thought. His face began turning red to the point where it looked like his head was about to pop off his head at any moment.

"I'll shut that annoying mouth of yours soon enough!" Eggman exclaimed. He walked over to the machine and powered it up as he chuckled. "Do you know what this device is?" He asked her.

Misuki looked at it closely, analyzing all of the parts until she realized what it was. "You're gonna hook me up to this thing and try to extract the red Chaos Emerald's energy from me."

"That's correct." He grinned as he rubbed his hands together. "Soon, you're power will belong to me. Then I can finally become the ruler of the entire galaxy!"

"Newsflash Eggman: your plans won't be accomplished." Misuki stated with a smirk. "You tried taking my power from me before, and failed miserably because you couldn't handle the level it was at. It'll just be a repeat of the past."

Eggman continued laughing at Misuki's outbursts and confidence. "You couldn't be any more wrong, my dear." He said. "This time will be very different thanks my own ace in the whole: Shadow." He gestured at Shadow, who did not move a single inch when his name was spoken. "With Shadow on my side, taking over will be mere child's play! All he asks for in return is a chance to exact his own revenge against humanity."

Misuki gasped, then looked over at Shadow. 'Is that Shadow's plan?' she asked herself. 'There's no way he'd wipe out humanity. That's not who he is.'

"Enough talk. Place her in the machine and stand back." Eggman watched as Shadow took Misuki to the machine and strapped her in tight.

She struggled to get out of it, but was unable to move once all the straps were fastened and secured. "Shadow, wait! Those things that Eggman said aren't true, are they?" She called out to Shadow, which caused him to halt a good distance away. "You don't really plan to wipe out humanity, do you?" Shadow didn't answer her. Instead he waited for a few minutes, and then continued walking over toward Eggman behind a safety barrier for protection. "Shadow, don't go! Please! Help me!"

"Now, let's try this again! Say good-bye to your energy!" The second Eggman pulled the trigger, Misuki was suddenly struck with thousands of bolts of electricity reaching inside of her to find the source of her power. She screamed at the top of her lungs in excruciating pain and torture as her body twisted and turned, desperate to break free. Five minutes into the pain, she began to notice everything around her fade away into nothingness. 'The Chaos Emerald is…fighting back.' She thought. It was almost impossible for her to fully concentrate on what she was thinking because of her screams of torture. It was as if her entire body was about to be ripped to shreds. 'I feel…its energy flowing through me even stronger than ever. Could…Could it be that it's protecting me?'

"Misuki…Misuki." Out of nowhere, a voice called out to her. She looked around to find herself in a blank space, held down by the chains of her pain. Before her formed a figure she recognized instantly. "My daughter, it is up to you."

"Father, is that you?"

"You must do whatever you can to stop Shadow. He is making a terrible mistake, and your voice is the only thing that will break him free."

"But what do I say to get through to him? I still don't know!" Before he could answer her, he vanished into thin air and was gone. "Don't leave me father! Come back!" The pain increased within minutes, causing more electrical shocks to be released into Misuki's body. Once that happened, her screams grew louder and she began emanating the Chaos Emerald's power around herself. The pain caused her to release it unconsciously, and expand it with every second. Soon it took over the machine and caused it to malfunction at a critical level. It shook and spattered little sprockets all over the room until it smoked and finally crashed. Misuki let out a mega sigh of relief once the pain ended. She was barely conscious, but still able to hear what was going on around her. All she heard was the machine letting out a small malfunction siren while Eggman shouted in anger over his failed attempt to take the Chaos Emerald's power yet again. Misuki then felt herself being lifted up and carried. She was able to open her eyes to a certain point, but was still able to see Shadow carry her back to the room. As she stared into his eyes, all she thought about was what Eggman told her. Shadow's plan was to destroy all humans. 'Why do want to kill innocent humans?' When she looked at him, Misuki saw the kind-hearted person Shadow once was, and still is deep inside. Even though he was made to be a weapon, she remembered how he wanted to use his powers to protect her and other people. Shadow set Misuki in the bed and went over to sit by the window and stare out into space. When Misuki tried to speak up, she found she was too weak to even make a single sound. All she could do was sit there and think about what was going on in Shadow's head. 'My father said that I'm the only one that can set Shadow free and make him realize his mistakes. I'm afraid if I fail, everyone on Earth is doomed. But at this point I can't to a thing. My body is still in shock, and everything is still a bit blurry. But I will get Shadow to tell me the truth. One way or another.'

**Shadow:** To keep Misuki in full health, Shadow gave her medicine to regain her strength and kill the pain she still felt in her body. He waited until she fell asleep and then left the room. He then began thinking of the reasons why Eggman's experiment didn't work. Once he realized the answer, he went to report it to him.

"How are the repairs coming?" he asked as he walked into the lab.

"It'll take some time, but I think I might be able to fix it. However I'll have to make some modifications if we're ever going to get that power out of that girl. It's as stubborn as she is."

"We're going at this the wrong way." Shadow announced.

"What're you talking about, Shadow?" Eggman stopped what he was doing and looked down at Shadow to listen to what he had to say.

"The Chaos Emerald is made up of raw, unstable power that can't be absorbed by a simple machine. With that power, Misuki is basically a Chaos Emerald herself. All you need to do is gather the other Emeralds, and you can obtain ultimate power for yourself."

Eggman thought about it for a while, then finally came to a conclusion. "Perhaps you're on to something, Shadow. I'll collect all the Emeralds and rule the universe!"

"Counting Misuki, we already have three Emeralds in our possession, while Sonic and his friends have one."

"We'll have to find a way to steal their Emerald." Eggman said, stroking his mustache.

"Leave that to me, Doctor." Shadow said with a smile. "I already have a plan that will force them to hand their Emerald over to us willingly. Just leave everything to me."

"I'm counting on you, Shadow. Don't fail me."

Shadow dismissed himself from the lab to set his plan into motion. His idea was to send out a message to Sonic, and tell them that he and Eggman will return Misuki safely to them, in exchange for the Chaos Emerald. But he won't hand her over to them. Once Sonic gave up the Emerald, he would be locked in a space pod and sent flying out into space for eternity. It was a plan that couldn't fail.

"Do you really want to do this, Shadow?"

Shadow stopped the second he heard a voice ask him that. Suddenly he sensed the presence of another person on the ship. He pulled out his gun and turned around to fire. When he turned around, he saw the illusion of a young girl with a sad face looking at him. "Who are you?" he asked, holding the gun to the girl's head.

"You don't remember me? I'm Misuki when she was a little girl." Shadow did his best to remain calm. Looking at her, memories of him and Misuki flashed through his head. "You and I used to play together. Back then, you were happy and wanted to protect humans. You promised me that one day you'd go back to Earth and protect everyone that lived there."

Shadow lowered his gun and turned away from the illusion. "Things change." He scoffed. "Those people on Earth are selfish idiots who kill things they don't understand. Well I'm going to make sure they're all put in their place. This is my purpose as the ultimate weapon." He continued walking down the hall until he couldn't sense the girl's presence anymore. He knew that he was never going to go back to the way he used to be. How could he when humans took away his life twice. They saw him as a threat, and did their best to get rid of him so it seemed as if he never existed. 'They can't get rid of me that easily. I'll never be put to rest; not as long as revenge still runs through my core.'

He opened the door to Misuki's room to find her sitting by the window, waiting for him to come back. "Shadow, it's time for our talk."

Shadow chuckled. "Fine, I'll humor you. Ask me whatever's on your mind."

He watched Misuki take a few deep breaths before finally speaking. "Tell me why you're with Eggman, and why you want to take revenge on humans."

"It seems your memories are worse off than mine are." He said, putting his hands in his pockets. "You of all people should know all too well what happened and why I'm pissed off at everyone. It's because you and the other scientists lied to me, and abandoned me in that underground lab." Shadow let out a low growl, re-living the horrible betrayal he faced all those years ago. He gritted his teeth and continued the story. "Right after you and your father faced Eggman, I saw that things were changing."

"What do you mean, Shadow?" she asked, standing up.

"Everyone began looking at me as just an object; a weapon for them to use in times of global crisis!" His voice roared around the room like thunder; his rage building faster and higher. "It was all because your father thought I couldn't protect you, and instead ran away from the incident to save myself! They blamed me, because of your stupid actions."

"Because…of…me?" Words couldn't describe Misuki's expression, nor feelings toward Shadow's story.

Shadow continued on, savoring the look on her face. "You locked me in that chamber and put me into hibernation mode. After that, you ran off to help your father fight off Eggman. You stood there as they did countless experiments on me and put me through intense training, letting me take the fall for your stupid acts of bravery, as you would call it. Then the worse thing happened that I'll never forget. You sealed me up again two years later and never came back for me. I was left alone in the earth forever. If it wasn't for the Doctor coming in and reawakening me, I would still be down there in that chamber. But soon, I shall have my revenge on you and the rest of the world!"

"Shadow, you have it all wrong." Misuki pleaded, taking two small steps toward him. "That's not what happened at all. We didn't abandon you, nor were you being punished for not protecting us from Eggman."

"Enough talk!" Shadow stomped toward Misuki and grabbed her by the wrist, squeezing it as tight as he could.

"Shadow, stop. That hurts." Misuki pleaded for Shadow to let go of her, but he didn't listen to her.

"It doesn't matter what you say now! Your fate is sealed. Just like the fate of everyone on Earth. Soon, they will all feel my wrath." Shadow drug Misuki out of the room and into the computer room, where he was about to put his plan into action.


	4. Determination

**Four: Determination**

**Misuki:** Misuki watched as Shadow typed away on the computer, still listening to his words as they echoed in her head over and over. It almost drove her to the point where she was going to snap and destroy everything in sight. Inside, there was sadness and anger mixing with each other and fighting to be set free. But Misuki held on and kept everything bottled up inside of her. 'Shadow, why won't you listen to me and let me explain myself?' she thought in her head. 'Your story is not true. I wasn't trying to get you in trouble. I just…'

"Hello, can anyone here me?" Misuki looked up as Shadow was trying to communicate with someone. When the image came on the screen, Misuki almost burst into tears once she saw Sonic, Knuckles and everyone else. "Long time, no see, Sonic."

"Shadow, what do you want?" Sonic asked.

Knuckles shoved himself in front of Sonic and got extremely close to the screen. "Listen you punk, if you hurt Misuki in any way, I'll beat the crap out of you till there's nothing left! You got me?"

Shadow chuckled. "Am I supposed to be scared?" The smirk on his face made Knuckles even more enraged.

"You smug little bastard!" Knuckles screamed at the screen.

Just before Knuckles completely lost it, Sonic pushed him out of the way and calmed him

down. "Chill out, Knuckles. We have to hear Shadow out first." Sonic then turned his attention back to Shadow, who was waiting patiently for them to get back on the subject. "Okay Shadow, what's the reason for you calling us?"

"I wanted to make a deal with you: we'll return Misuki to you, in exchange for your Chaos Emerald." Misuki became shocked when she heard Shadow say this. She couldn't tell what was going through his mind. "It's a simple trade that benefits the both of us. What do you say?"

There was a long silence as Sonic thought about Shadow's proposal. "Before I decide, let me see Misuki. Just to make sure she's still safe." Sonic demanded, waiting for Shadow to reply. Without saying a word, Shadow drug Misuki beside him and allowed her to speak to Sonic and the others. "Hey Misuki, You doing okay?" He asked her.

Misuki never thought she'd be so happy to hear Sonic's voice in her life. "Yes, I'm okay. I'm sorry I got you involved in this." Deep inside of her, Misuki wanted to cry but kept it hidden and stayed strong.

"Don't worry about that okay? We're gonna rescue you, so just hang on a little while longer."

Misuki nodded. "I will, Sonic."

"I accept your offer, Shadow. When should we meet?" Sonic asked.

"I'll send you our coordinates. The trade will take place in two hours. Make sure not to be late. Oh, and one more thing. If you try anything funny, I won't hesitate to kill you and your little friends." Shadow pulled out his gun and spun it around his finger.

"I understand." After Sonic said that, Shadow sent their location and disconnected the line.

Misuki watched as Shadow walked out of the room chuckling the whole way. She wasn't sure of what Shadow had planned, but she knew it was definitely not going to be good for her nor Sonic. She had to do something to stop him, but didn't know what she could do.

Misuki caught up to Shadow and stayed by his side until Sonic came. Being next to him brought back memories when they were inseparable, and did everything together. As they walked back to her room, Misuki wanted to talk to Shadow about everything that happened, but she was afraid to say anything. She knew he wouldn't listen to her because of whatever Eggman told him. She sat on her bed, glaring at Shadow every now and then as he polished his gun. As she stared at him, she pondered in her head what words to use to get Shadow to leave Eggman and come with her and Sonic. No matter what she came up with, something told her that it wouldn't be enough. If Misuki was going to free Shadow from his own darkness, she was going to have to take her strategy to the next level. Misuki then saw something that made her regain some of her hope. "You still have that charm."

Shadow looked down and saw a small beaded string hang out of his pocket. He reached in and took it out, holding it in front of him. "What about it? It's just a useless object."

"If it was useless, you wouldn't have kept it this whole time." Misuki found herself smiling at the fact that Shadow actually kept something that was a sign of their relationship in the past. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a charm that was similar to the one Shadow was holding. "I made one for you, me, and my father. His is next to a picture. I remember when I first gave you that charm. You were so confused when I gave it to you because you didn't know what to do with it." Misuki smiled as she gripped the charm tightly in her hands and held it close. "Despite that, you promised me that you wouldn't let go of it no matter what. Seeing you with it now makes me very happy."

"Don't get the wrong idea." He scoffed, putting the charm back in his pocket. Misuki quickly looked up at him. "Just because I have this, doesn't mean my feelings towards you and the rest of those pathetic humans will ever change. Make sure to remember that."

"Shadow, why do you insist on doing this to yourself?" she asked him. He gave her a look that made Misuki's blood run cold. "You don't really believe that Eggman will help you get your revenge and allow you to live a new life, do you?"

"Just what do you mean by that?" Shadow walked closer to Misuki, grabbing her by her shirt.

"All Eggman cares about is collecting the Chaos Emeralds for himself and using them to take over the world. After he does, you'll be useless to him and he'll discard you anyway he can." The look in his eyes never changed at all. Misuki found herself calm, despite the threatening gaze in Shadow's eyes. "Everything he told you about your past, are complete crap. He doesn't know anything about you, Shadow. Please believe me."

Shadow finally lost his temper and threw Misuki against the wall. She stayed on the ground, looking up at Shadow who was prepared to kill her. "Why the hell should I believe you! Just because of this damn charm?" Shadow gripped the charm in his hand to the point where he almost crushed it and turned it to dust. "This means nothing to me! It's a reminder of my past and how you and the other scientists treated me! You all were so focused on saving yourselves that you left me behind without a second thought! I'll never forgive you for what you did!"

As Misuki got to her knees, Eggman's voice came over the intercom. "Shadow, it seems Sonic and his friends have arrived earlier than expected."

"Looks like it's time for the real fun to begin." Shadow grabbed Misuki by the arm and took her to an empty room to meet Sonic for the trade. Misuki watched Tails' ship stop next to Eggman's and waited for Sonic to board.

"Shadow, it's not too late." She attempted to plead to him one last time. "You can still turn back."

"You just keep quiet and let me do all the talking. All you have to do is stand there." Misuki looked at Shadow with sympathy.

'Just what are you up to, Shadow?'

"I'm here, Shadow." Misuki and Shadow turned around to see Sonic enter the room with a Chaos Emerald in hand. "Glad to see you're okay, Misuki."

Misuki smiled at him, but knew that this reunion wasn't going to last for very long.

"You'll be outta here in no time."

"If you do exactly as I say." Shadow kept Misuki close to him so Sonic wouldn't try to grab her before the exchange. "Slowly place the Emerald on that platform in front of you. After that, I'll release her." Sonic followed Shadow's orders and set the Emerald down. The second he did, Sonic found himself trapped in a pod with the Emerald. "I warned you not to play me for a fool, Sonic! You're not fooling anyone with that fake Emerald!"

"Fake!" Misuki looked hard at the Emerald and tried sensing its power. She found as she concentrated on it, it didn't react to her at all. 'It is a fake Emerald. But it seemed real.'

"How did you know it was a fake?" Sonic asked, banging on the pod.

Shadow chuckled. "We picked up two Chaos Emeralds coming from your ship. We knew you only had one, so the conclusion had to be that you made a fake Emerald to trick us. Well that was a mistake on your part, my friend. Now good-bye…forever." Shadow ejected Sonic into space along with the fake Emerald.

"Sonic, no!" Misuki watched as his pod flew farther into space until it finally exploded. She looked out speechless with tears running down her eyes at the horrible sight she just witnessed. At the same time, it crushed her even worse to hear Shadow laugh at this.

"It was his own fault for thinking it would be that easy to trick us."

Misuki kept listening to him until she couldn't take it anymore. She ran up to Shadow and slapped him across the face as hard as she could. The impact left a huge hand print on his cheek. "You've gone too far this time, Shadow! What's the point of getting revenge for things that didn't even happen? There's no doubt that Eggman has brainwashed you with his constant lies. He doesn't give a damn about you, nor helping you get revenge! He's using you as a tool to help him collect the Emeralds and then discard you anyway he can." Misuki saw that Shadow was reaching for his gun, so she quickly jumped back and got away from him. "Do you plan to shoot me?" She spread her arms out, not making any attempt to dodge if he was going to shoot. She noticed he kept silent the entire time. "If you do plan on shooting me, at least let me explain my side of what happened all those years ago." She waited for any type of reaction from him as an answer. They kept eye contact with each other as Shadow lowered his gun to his side and gave Misuki a chance to talk. "My father found you in a space pod that crashed to earth. He was fascinated by you that he took you into his underground lab and did everything he could to re-animate you so he could learn where you came from. But when you finally woke up, you had no idea who you were or what happened in your past. The only thing you remembered was your name. So, my father made you his own personal experiment to give you a brand new life."

"What about those bastards treating me as nothing but a weapon?" Shadow pointed the gun at her again, holding his face where Misuki had struck him.

"That happened five years after we found you. Something happened to you that you went berserk and attacked some of the scientists, and almost hurt me. My father had to knock you out and keep you in a chamber where the chemicals calmed and relaxed you. Some of the scientists tried to convince my father to shut down your project completely and destroy you. But he refused because he was confident that you could be repaired and fixed. Just as he almost fixed your programming…" A loud blast interrupted Misuki, as the ship shook out of control and heavily.

"What the hell was that?" Shadow asked, looking out the window. "It looks like your friends are finally taking matters into their own hands."

Misuki watched as missiles and gunfire were being shot back and forth endlessly. Another large blast hit the side of the ship, which put Misuki into a panic. She knelt down to the floor and covered her head wishing everything would freeze. 'This is all my fault. None of this would be happening if I saved you back then.'

"Shadow, I want you to go and secure the other Chaos Emeralds! Make sure Sonic's friends don't get their hands on them!" Eggman ordered. Without a response, Shadow took off and left the room.

"Shadow, wait!" Misuki followed Shadow out of the room, but had a hard time keeping up with him as they continued down the hall. She still wanted to talk to Shadow about the past, but became more concerned with the Chaos Emeralds Eggman had. She had to stop him and get the Emeralds back. Shadow kept getting farther and farther away until he was completely out of sight. "Shadow, please stop!" Misuki stopped to catch her breath when a bright light appeared in front of her. She shielded her eyes from the brilliance of it. When she opened her eyes again she gasped at who was standing right before her. "Sonic, is that you?"

Sonic stretched his arms out with the fake Emerald in hand. "Yep, it's me."

Misuki ran to him to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "But, I saw your pod explode! How did you escape?"

"It was all thanks to this Emerald. Tails made it exactly like a real one, so I just used Chaos Control. It was risky but I had to get out of there before it was too late." He held the Emerald out in his hands, and watched it disintegrate into dust. "Guess I wore out what little energy it had. Now, are you okay, Misuki?"

Misuki nodded her head. "I'm fine, but we need to stop Shadow. He's gone to secure the Chaos Emeralds. We've got to stop him!"

"Then let's get going." Sonic put Misuki on his back and sped down the hall.

Misuki gave him directions based on her connection with the Chaos Emeralds. "They're around that corner, third door on the right! Hurry!" Sonic picked up speed towards where Misuki was pointing. When they finally arrived in front of the door, Sonic and Misuki noticed that there was a keypad next to the door. "How are we supposed to get in?" Sonic asked, letting Misuki down off his back.

"I think I can bypass the code. Just give me a second." Misuki got to work and began punching in different numbers rapidly to where her fingers became nothing but blurs. Like she said, in seconds the door opened for them. When Misuki ran in, she saw Shadow feeding the Chaos Emeralds to a small opening in the panel.

Shadow turned towards Misuki and Sonic just after he dropped the last Emerald into the opening. He became shocked once he looked towards Sonic. "How are you still alive?"

"Even a fake Emerald has its uses pal." Sonic chuckled.

Misuki took a step closer to Shadow. "Please stop this, Shadow. Eggman's only playing you for a fool."

"I've heard just about enough out of you!" He exclaimed. "Your pleading is getting on my last nerves! CHAOS SPEAR!" With a swing of his hand, Shadow sent out four glowing spears straight towards Misuki.

Sonic jumped in front of her and blocked them. "If you want to pick a fight, fight with me!"

"Fine by me." Shadow chuckled. "I'll shut you up first."

Sonic ran straight for Shadow to land a blow. The moment they made contact with each other, Sonic and Shadow vanished from Misuki's sight. She gasped in horror. "What the hell happened to them? Did they disappear?" Before she came to that conclusion, she noticed that she could still sense them in the room. 'No, that's not it.' She thought to herself. Her suspicions were proven when she saw a quick flash of Sonic and Shadow fighting. 'I knew it! They're both moving at incredible speed. They can't be seen by the naked eye. How will I know if Sonic's okay?' All Misuki could do is stand and wait for something to happen. For the longest time, the only thing she saw were quick flashes of both of them fighting each other.

"There you are, Misuki!"

Misuki turned around to see Knuckles come up from behind her. "Knuckles, how did you get onboard?"

"I had to sneak in through a back entrance. Come on, we've got to get out of here!"

Knuckles grabbed Misuki's hand and tried to escape with her. Just as he started taking off, Misuki yanked back her hand. "We can't leave without Sonic."

"Sonic? But didn't he get ejected from the ship and explode?"

"He used the power of the fake Chaos Emerald to save himself. Now he and Shadow are fighting."

"If their fighting, then why do you want to stay here?" He looked at Misuki with confusion.

"Because they're fighting right in front of you." Knuckles looked around the room, then back at Misuki. She sighed and explained it. "They're moving at supersonic speed. They can't be seen by the human eye. They do reappear in quick flashes every now and then, but it's hard to tell who's winning."

"Then let's hope its Sonic who wins." Knuckles kept his hand on Misuki's shoulder to relax her and keep her from shaking. But she still was uneasy; she went back and forth on who she wanted to come out victorious. She wanted Sonic to win, but at the same time she didn't want Shadow to be hurt in any way. The battle lasted for what seemed like hours.

'I can't take it anymore.' She thought to herself. 'This has to stop right now.' Just as that thought went through her mind, Eggman came over the intercom again.

This time the words he spoke made everyone freeze. "Shadow, you have to get out of there! That ship is set to self-destruct in thirty minutes!"

Once he said that, Sonic and Shadow stopped fighting and became visible again. Sonic had more damage on him than Shadow. "Looks like we'll have to finish this another time." He said.

Before he could use Chaos Control, Misuki tried one more time to get Shadow to join them. "Shadow, please don't go. Come back with us. Eggman is lying to you."

Shadow scoffed and left without saying anything. "CHAOS CONTROL!"

Misuki and the others only had a few seconds left to get out of there. "Misuki, we've got to bail now!" Sonic grabbed her hand and made her aware of what was going on.

"Hang on, everyone." She took Knuckles' hand and then used Chaos Control to take them back to their ship. "CHAOS CONTROL!" Her body began glowing a bright red, as a large orb formed around them and teleported them out of Eggman's ship just as it began exploding into a million pieces. As she watched it, Misuki began crying silently over Shadow's decision.


	5. Memories

**Five: Memories**

**Misuki:** "Hey Misuki, are you going to be okay?" Knuckles asked her, keeping a good distance away from her so she had her space.

Misuki looked over her shoulder to stare at him. When she did, all she could see was Shadow's displeased look. She didn't make a scene about it because she didn't want anyone to worry about her more than they were already. The more she thought about Shadow, the worse she got. She tried to hide it, but let a tear fall from her depressed eyes. "Misuki?" Knuckles called her name again, extending an arm out toward her. He wanted nothing more than to comfort her.

Just as his hand was inches away from her shoulder, Misuki turned around and grabbed Knuckles. She held him tight as she buried her face in his chest and began sobbing loudly to where Sonic, Tails, Amy and Vector all came out to see what was going on. Knuckles held onto her as she repeated under her breath, "Why, Shadow? Why? I'm so sorry. I'm sorry." She continued crying for almost an hour until it finally put her to sleep.

When Misuki woke up the next morning, the first thing she did was head to the training area to get a good morning work-out. Sparing by herself helped Misuki clear her mind of everything. After that, she took a shower, got dressed and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast. Just before she reached the kitchen, she saw Sonic and Amy talking by the bar area. "Hey guys." She greeted them in a happy tone, smiling the biggest smile they ever saw on her.

Sonic and Amy looked at each other and then turned back to Misuki. "Uhh, hey Misuki." Sonic greeted.

"Are you feeling any better today?" Amy asked her.

"I sure am." She answered. "A good cry does make a person feel better after everything that went down yesterday. I hope you two are hungry. I'm making an extra special breakfast this morning." Misuki proceeded to the kitchen and took out eggs, bacon and pancake mix. She put a few strips of bacon into the oven, and then began cooking the eggs and pancakes. "These are gonna taste great!" She began thinking about happier times when she used to make small snacks for her and Shadow when they played in the garden. She would always make rice balls, cookies and fruit salads for the two of them. It made her happy to see him enjoy her food. 'Things will go back to the way they were. Just you wait, Shadow.' This was a promise Misuki made to herself.

"Uhh…Misuki, do you have a minute?" Misuki turned around to see Knuckles peeking through the door.

"Oh hey Knuckles." Misuki smiled at him and gestured him to join her in the kitchen. "Breakfast will be ready real soon, so I hope you're hungry."

"It smells great." He said as he slowly stepped into the kitchen and took a whiff of the pancakes that were ready for the plate.

Misuki took all the pancakes out of the skillet and stacked them onto a big serving plate. "Now, what did you come in here for?"

Knuckles stepped back and did his best to form the words he wanted to say. "Well…I, uh…I just wanted to make sure you…were okay."

"Like I told Sonic and Amy, I'm fine now." She said, still smiling. "I just had to get all of my anger and sadness out, and crying really helped do just that. And thanks for being there for me when I needed to cry."

"Umm…I, uh…it was no problem." He quickly turned away from Misuki to hide his bright red face. "Anyway…is breakfast almost ready?" He asked.

"Sure is. Would you mind helping me serve the food?"

"I'd be glad to." Knuckles took the plate of pancakes and carried it to the dining room. He sat them on the table next to the eggs that Misuki had placed down.

"Okay, get everything set here while I call everyone down for breakfast. Is that okay?"

"Sure, no problem." Knuckles went back to the kitchen to get the rest of the food.

Misuki logged into her watch to contact everyone. "Hey guys, breakfast is ready. Head to the dining room now." After she made the announcement, Misuki went ahead and poured orange juice for everyone. The second she poured juice into the last cup, Sonic came flying in and took his seat. "I knew you'd be the first one in here, Sonic." Misuki laughed.

"What can I say? I'm starving." He laughed.

"Unfortunately, you'll have to wait for everyone else to get here." She reminded him, making sure he didn't try to sneak a pancake.

A few short minutes later, everyone came to the table and began to dig into Misuki's delicious food. "These pancakes are super tasty!" Charmy exclaimed, pouring more syrup onto his stack.

"I agree. You've really outdone yourself, Misuki." Espio commented.

"Thanks everyone. Since we're all here, I wanted to discuss something important with all of you." Everyone turned to Misuki and waited for her announcement. "Now that Eggman and Shadow are determined to take me for the Emerald's power, we have to find a better place to hide out."

Silence fell throughout the room. "Are you saying that they could be looking for us right now?" Amy asked.

Misuki nodded. "That's exactly what I'm saying. We could be tracked easily out here in space."

"Okay, so where should we hide?" Tails asked, taking a drink of orange juice.

"Where else but Earth?"

"I'm not saying you're wrong Misuki, but why go to Earth?" Sonic asked.

"Well…umm…the truth is, I want to see my hometown." She confessed, looking down at her half empty plate. "It's the place where my father's underground lab used to be, and where we found Shadow when he crashed down."

Everyone became silent for a while, finishing up their breakfast leaving no scraps left behind. Finally when everyone was done, Sonic spoke out. "If you think we'll be safe, then I say let's go for it."

Misuki smiled after hearing Sonic say that, wiping her mouth of syrup. "Anyone else with the idea?" She asked, looking at everyone else.

"I'm up for it too." Knuckles raised his hand.

"As am I." Espio spoke out.

"We are too." Amy and Cream said together. Once everything was set, they all headed to the control room and watched Tails set the ship's coordinates for Earth.

"We're in luck, you guys!" Tails exclaimed. "According to the radar, Earth is just ten minutes away! We'll be there in no time." Hearing that made everyone shout with excitement. Misuki was the happiest out of all of them, because she was finally going to see her childhood home after being away from it for so long. So many feeling ran through her to where she stepped out into the hallway to take a deep breath and relax.

Every happy memory of that place flashed through Misuki's mind. The best memories were of Shadow smiling whenever he was with her. That was one thing she would never forget no matter what, and it was those memories that kept her going to save Shadow from Eggman. "Everything okay, Misuki?" Her heart stopped for a brief second once Sonic walked up behind her.

She quickly turned around while trying to regain her breath. "Besides the mild heart attack you just gave me, I'm fine." She let out a small laugh, still clutching her chest tightly.

"Just making sure." He said walking closer. "Ever since we rescued you from Eggman, all of us have been worried about you. Especially since the breakdown you had after we came back onto the ship." Misuki stayed silent, not knowing what to say to that. "Now we're taking you back to your childhood home. To be honest, I wasn't sure at first if it was a good idea to surround you with memories of the past. But seeing as how you sort of became emotional when you mentioned it, it would've been heartless of me to say we shouldn't go."

As Misuki listened to Sonic's words, she began remembering the first time she met him. She was in the middle of a dark street, desperately looking for Shadow almost a month after the accident, when she was ambushed by street thugs. They attempted to kidnap her when Sonic came out of nowhere and saved her. At first glance, Misuki thought he was Shadow, but became disappointed when she was able to get a good look at him. Just as she was continuing on, Sonic offered Misuki to join him and Tails to hunt for Chaos Emeralds and a man named Eggman. The second she heard his name, Misuki knew that teaming up with Sonic was the only way to find Shadow and bring him home. And now that she has, she couldn't be happier that she met Sonic and the others. "I'm sorry, Sonic." She apologized.

Sonic looked at her confused. "What are you sorry for this time?" he asked.

"I'm sorry for acting like a child. I act like I'm helpless and can't do anything on my own. That's why I'm reckless all the time; I want to show people I'm not weak, and that I can take care of myself."

Sonic stared at Misuki, who would usually cry in this situation, actually had a brave face and was looking up proudly. "I think you've already proven that, Misuki." Sonic said. "None of us think you're weak, nor do we think you act like a child. The reason you think that way, is because you're afraid. It's alright to be afraid sometimes. It's usually the thing that keeps you fighting." He walked over to her and petted her head. "Just promise that you'll never give up and you'll fight with all your heart."

Misuki nodded. "I won't let anyone down."

"Hey guys, we're here! Come take a look." Amy came out into the hallway to get Sonic and Misuki. They went back into the control room to see the beautiful view that was planet Earth.

"Wow, so that's planet Earth." Sonic was overwhelmed by the beauty of the planet. "It looks amazing."

'I'm coming home dad. Just wait a little longer.' Within minutes they were in the Earth's atmosphere. "Okay Tails, type in these coordinates and we'll land there." Misuki gave Tails a piece of paper that had some numbers on it. Tails took it and typed them into the computer, and setting the ship to autopilot.

Five minutes later they landed in a deserted wasteland that had a city just on the outskirts. "Misuki, why did we land here?" Amy asked, following her off the ship.

"Just come with me and I'll show you." She said, opening the door and stepping off the ship. Being back on Earth made Misuki feel relaxed and calm. "See those ruins over there?" Misuki pointed far out past the ship.

Everyone looked over in that direction, to see the remains of a building that used to stand there. "What is it?" Knuckles asked.

"That was my home before the accident."

"Seriously?" Knuckles asked while still looking out. "Then that means right below it is the laboratory that your father built to hide Shadow."

Misuki nodded. "That's right." She paused, remembering what it looked like before. "I can't believe it's been thirteen years." Misuki became lost in her thoughts of the past.

"Are you going to be okay?" Knuckles put his hand on her shoulder to bring her back to reality.

The sudden feel of his hand made her jump, then looked up at Knuckles. "I'll be fine." She answered while smiling. "Just…remembering happy times. Hey, how about I take you all on a tour of my old home? There's a town not far from here."

"Are there a lot of shops and restaurants?" Amy asked.

Misuki nodded. "It has almost everything. Sonic, come with us!" Sonic was standing on the nose of the ship, looking out.

He jumped down and joined everyone else. "I guess I can tag along." With that, they followed Misuki to the town. When they finally arrived, they were astounded by how busy it was with all the people running around to every shop that was in their sight. "Wow, this place is pretty awesome." Sonic admitted.

"Sonic's right, it's so beautiful." Amy kept stopping at every store, looking at all the cute clothes that were on display in the windows. "The shops here have the most adorable clothes."

Misuki chuckled. "This place is famous for its restaurants." She pointed out. "It's sort of a hotspot for tourists. They come during the summer to buy everything the town can afford."

"Misuki, is that you?" They all looked over to see a brown haired girl waving at them.

Misuki stared at her for a second, then gasped in excitement. "Amanda? No way!" She ran over to her friend and hugged her. "Oh my god, it's been forever since I've seen you!"

"I know! You look really good." Amanda complimented, letting go of Misuki.

"You don't look bad yourself." Misuki said back. "Oh, let me introduce you to my friends." She gestured for Sonic and the others to come over. When they did, Misuki began the introductions. "Amanda, these are my friends: Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Tails, and this little guy is Cheese."

"It's nice to meet all of you. I'm Amanda." She introduced herself. "Misuki and I have been best friends since we were five."

"Nice to meet you too, Amanda." Sonic greeted.

"I think I remember Misuki telling us about you when we first met her." Cream pointed out.

"Yeah, I remember too." Amy said. "You're exactly as she described: friendly, hardworking, and cute too."

Amanda chuckled. "Well I don't know about hardworking. My family owns this pizza house. I have no choice but to help out." Her mood suddenly changed into serious, which caught Misuki's attention. "Misuki, I have something important to tell you. Hurry and come inside…all of you." Misuki looked at everyone, concerned about what Amanda had to say. They followed her upstairs to the living room.

Misuki took a seat on the couch next to Knuckles and Amy. "So what is it you wanted to tell me?" She asked, looking hard at Amanda. The longer they were silent, the harder and faster her heart pounded.

Amanda finally opened her mouth and spoke. "G.U.N. has been walking around here lately." Misuki's entire body began shaking the moment she heard G.U.N.'s name. Knuckles grabbed ahold of her while Amanda continued. "They still think there are witnesses that saw you with Shadow thirteen years ago."

"Hold on, do you mean the G.U.N. military force?" Knuckles asked.

Amanda nodded. "They come around here at least twice a day for no reason."

"They're looking for me." Misuki whispered.

"What do you mean, Misuki?" Sonic asked.

"When my father and I escaped, we thought we were safe from them. But they found us hiding out in the next town over. My father sacrificed himself just to give me a chance to escape. After that, G.U.N. began looking for me because they knew I was still alive."

"Maybe it's possible that they believe you'd return here." Amanda suggested. "It is your home."

"If they're after you, then you're not safe here." Knuckles said. "Misuki, maybe we should get out of here."

Misuki stood up and headed towards the door. "It was nice to see you again, Amanda." She stopped a few feet from the door. "Come on guys. Let's go back to the ship. I'll see you around Amanda."

Misuki sat against the ship, thinking about how G.U.N. ruined everything between her and Shadow. If they hadn't interfered, then things would've been different. "Hey Misuki, are you going to be okay?" She looked up to see Sonic peek around the corner, with Espio right behind him.

"Just leave me alone, guys. I don't want to be bothered." She put her head in her arms, hiding her tears. "I will never forgive G.U.N. for what they did. They took my father away from me and forced me to abandon Shadow." Espio and Sonic quietly left Misuki alone to let her blow off steam. Misuki looked out at the ruins that were her childhood home, and saw everything that led up to the life she was living now. 'I have to convince Shadow that I never abandoned him on purpose. I'll do everything I can to set things right.'


	6. Unexpected Guests

**Six: Unexpected Guests**

**Misuki:** After taking a few deep breaths and getting a message from Tails, Misuki went into the ship to see what he wanted to talk to her about. "I'm here Tails. What's up?" She stood behind him staring at the monitors.

"I figured out how we can stay here, and not be noticed."

"Show me." Misuki became interested.

She watched as Tails pulled up a simulation of the ship. "I've installed a cloaking device that will shield us from anyone who decides to come around here." The simulation showed the ship being cloaked by an invisible force field, powered by a generator installed next to the ship's fuel supply. "Even if they approach it, they'll just pass through it not realizing we're here."

Misuki ruffled Tails hair. "Nice work, Mr. Mechanic. You definitely give Eggman a run for his money."

"Gee, thanks." He chuckled.

In the middle of their conversation, Knuckles came in and walked up to Misuki. "I've been looking everywhere for you, Misuki." He said, causing her to quickly turn around.

"Oh hey Knuckles. Did you need something?" She asked with a smile.

"Well, since there's a lot on your mind…I was wondering if you wanted to spar with me and take out your frustrations."

Misuki thought about it for a while, then without saying anything dragged Knuckles straight to the training room and into the boxing ring. "Don't hold back just because I'm a girl, Knuckles." Misuki started swinging at him left and right, letting all of her stress out. She only got a few good hits on Knuckles before he finally fought back. Soon she stared laughing so hard that she collapsed to the ground, trying to get a hold of her breath. Just when she started to calm down, Knuckles sat beside her, happy to see Misuki enjoying herself.

"You gonna be okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She breathed. "It…feels good to laugh at your problems."

"Better than crying?"

Misuki nodded while letting out a small giggle. She sat up and removed her gloves. "I want to thank you Knuckles."

Knuckles looked at her. "Thank me for what?"

"Being there for me whenever I was sad. You're always right there if I need a shoulder to cry on."

"You don't have to thank me, Misuki." He told her. "You're my friend. I'll do anything I can to make you happy."

Misuki smiled at him, feeling weightless after her work-out. After an hour of chilling, Misuki decided to go to the kitchen and make herself a fruit salad. It was the perfect treat to keep a smile on her face. She put grapes, bits of watermelon, apple slices and finally some strawberries. As she made her snack, she began thinking about Shadow and all the lies Eggman put into his head. 'Eggman will pay for corrupting Shadow.'

"What are you doing, Misuki?"

Espio came in while Misuki was putting the final touches on her fruit salad. "Just fixing an after workout snack. I forgot how good working out feels when you're depressed." She sighed a relaxing sigh as she threw a grape in her mouth and got lost in the taste of fresh fruit. "Fruit just makes it even better."

"Well I'm glad to see you feeling better." He said, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. "Since you worked out, I take it your bruises healed up nicely."

Misuki held up her arm to show him. "You got it. No scarring, no nothing. It's all thanks to your medicine." She smiled as she took her fruit salad to the top of the ship and ate her salad out in the bright sun. The gentle breeze cleared her mind and put a smile back on her face.

**Shadow:** "Curse Sonic and his friends!" Eggman exclaimed out of anger, slamming his fists up and down on his keyboard. "I was so close to getting their Emerald and then they blow up my ship! They'll pay for this."

"Calm down, Eggman." Shadow said with a cool and collected face. "They won't be able to escape that easily."

Eggman looked down at him. "What do you mean, Shadow?"

Shadow chuckled from confidence. "There's only one place where they would hide: planet Earth." He looked out the window, his arms folded as he stared hard at the blue planet below them. "If they were to hide anywhere, it'd be Earth."

"That's true, and to make it better we can easily track their ship's location." Eggman typed a few codes into his computer to track the location of Misuki and the ship but something interfered with the signal. "What's going on! I've been blocked!"

"It looks like they were one step ahead of us." He chuckled, not at all surprised by this turn of events. 'Misuki will have more to deal with than just us. There's also G.U.N.' Shadow walked away with no emotion on his face, thinking about whether or not Misuki would be able to handle herself with G.U.N. 'Why the hell am I thinking about her safety?' he asked himself. 'If she runs into them, it's her problem not mine.'

"Are you really going to let her die, Shadow?"

Shadow turned around to see the image of young Misuki standing behind him. "You again." He was surprised to see her again. "I already told you, actions change over time. No one stays the same forever."

"But if you let her die, the memories and dreams of her will only get worse. Do you really want her death on your conscious?" The hallucination followed Shadow to his room to try and convince him to rescue her. "G.U.N. will close in on her soon. If you don't act now, it'll be too late."

"Get away from me!" Shadow swung his hand at the spirit and caused her to vanish. "All this pleading and begging is annoying!" After he was alone, he laid out across his bed and just dug into his mind about his life. He was uneasy because of the words young Misuki spoke to him. Now he was actually considering stepping in to save her when the time for it came.

**Three Weeks Later**

**Misuki:** Misuki went up to visit Tails in the cock pit. She came from behind him and handed him a glass of hot chocolate. "Here you go, Tails. Something to keep your energy up."

"Thanks a lot, Misuki. This smells great." Tails took the hot chocolate and blew on it before taking a sip from it. "Yum, this is great."

Misuki smiled before ruffling Tails' hair. "You've done a great job at keeping the force field up and running Mr. Mechanic."

Tails fixed his hair after Misuki pulled her hand away from him. "Thanks a lot, Misuki."

"By the way, have you seen Sonic? It's been a while since I've seen him."

"Oh yeah, Amy took him out on a date. They said they'd be back later. I called them an hour ago and it sounded like Sonic was having fun."

"I hope they remember that we're supposed to lay low. G.U.N. could have undercover spies all around this area." Uneasy, Misuki looked out the window into the deep dessert.

"Don't worry, Misuki." Tails told her. "You and I both know that Sonic would never do anything to endanger his friends."

"You're right. But still…I want them to be careful." Misuki was silent after she said that seeing flashes of the lab being destroyed and everyone she cared about being slaughtered. 'I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me.' She thought to herself, clenching her fists. 'I will protect my friends, no matter what.' After that thought passed through her mind, she returned to her room to take a small nap to get rid of all of her stress. Before she closed her eyes, Misuki looked up at the photo she had of her, her father and Shadow. "What am I going to do, papa? No matter what I say, Shadow won't listen to anything I have to say. But I won't give up." She kissed the photo before gently pressing it to her chest and hugging it. "I'll bring Shadow back and make everything right once again." In the middle of that sentence, Misuki slowly drifted off to sleep and dreamt about being with Shadow again, and seeing him smile.

"Misuki…Misuki wake up!"

Misuki felt someone shake her four hours later and call her name.

"Come on, Misuki! This is an emergency!" The voice exclaimed.

She woke up to see Knuckles sweating uncontrollably and panting rapidly as if he was running out of air to breathe.

She sat up in the bed, wiping her eyes. "What's going on, Knuckles? What are you in such a panic about?"

"There are soldiers outside! G.U.N. soldiers!"

"Are you serious!" Misuki quickly sat up and ran out of the room and back to the cock pit, where Sonic and the others were watching the soldiers surround the area around them. "Sonic, did they really find us?" she asked as she stopped next to Sonic and panted.

"I'm sure how, but they did." He answered her, just as panicked as Misuki was.

As they watched G.U.N. point their guns at the ship. One of them brought a heavy device and set in front of the ship. "What're they doing now?" Amy asked, holding onto Cream and Cheese in the back of the group.

No one answered them because they were curious themselves. Once the device was set in place, the soldier switched it on and quickly stepped back. It started to hum louder and louder, when Tails figured out what the device was. "Wait, I know what that is! It's a de-cloaking machine!"

"De-cloaking machine? What's that?" Sonic asked as everyone turned to Tails.

"It reverses the magnetic field and deactivates any cloaking shields it comes into contact with. They're shutting down the shield around the ship!" After Tails explained the machine's ability, all of the equipment started malfunctioning for a few seconds until the humming slowed down and stopped.

Soon the ship lost its power, leaving them defenseless. "They shut off our power!" Knuckles tried typing on the keyboard to make something happen but they were blocked out.

Misuki experimented and tried to focus on the Master Emerald's power in order to harness it and re-power the ship. 'Master Emerald, please hear my call. I am your servant and obey your will. I plead to you now, fill me with some of your power and allow me to bring light to my friends.' She concentrated on her soul energy to try and feel any Chaos Power that came to her. A minute later, she began feeling a small amount of energy float around her and eventually enter her body. 'It's not much but it will do.' Misuki harnessed the new energy she had gained and walked over to the keyboard where Knuckles was still trying to get something to happen. "I think I can solve this." She removed his hand and proceeded to restore power to the ship.

She placed her hand over the keyboard and let the energy flow from her heart, through her hand and out her fingers and palm. The Chaos energy entered through the key pads and within ten minutes restored as much power as Misuki could give. Once the power was brought back, Misuki collapsed to her knees feeling light-headed from giving part of her energy to the ship. Knuckles quickly helped her up and leaned her body towards him for support. "What did you do, Misuki?" he asked.

Misuki caught her breath before answering him. "I asked the Master Emerald to give me extra energy so I could power the ship."

"Only a third of our power is activated, but at least it's on." Tails said, checking the system.

"That was a little dangerous, Misuki." Sonic told her.

"We have your ship surrounded!" One of the G.U.N. soldiers got onto a speaker, and began throwing threats at them. "We are here for the fugitive, Misuki Hikotsu. If you give her up willingly, the rest of you will be spared. Delay any further and you will be killed."

There was a long pause in between the group, thinking about their threat. Misuki felt her entire body shake from fear as she remembered seeing masked men chase her with guns in hand and prepared to fire. 'They're back to finish what they started.'

"Do they really think we'll hand Misuki over in order to save ourselves? They've got some nerve." Knuckles was the most annoyed out of the group as he held Misuki closer to her.

"No matter what, we can't give in to their demands." Espio leaned against the opening next to Sonic, showing no reaction to the situation.

Misuki looked over to see Sonic somewhat aggravated by all of this, wanting to protect Misuki from her past like he promised her the day they first met. "We're not letting them take Misuki." He finally spoke. "They obviously don't know who they're dealing with." Sonic walked out of the room, cracking his knuckles. "I'll take care of them."

"Sonic wait!" Misuki stood up on her own, taking two steps towards Sonic before falling back down to her knees. "Don't do this for me." Knuckles held onto her the minute she fell to her knees but Misuki pushed him away. "You'll only get yourself hurt. I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of me." Tears fell from her eyes, thinking about what she would do if any of her friends were hurt in any way.

"Don't worry, Misuki. I'll be fine. Plus…there's nothing I won't do to protect my friends." He smiled at her before he finally walked out of the room.

Misuki and the others looked out the window and waited for Sonic to come out of the ship and stand up to the thousands of G.U.N. soldiers.

"Stay where you are!" One of the soldiers demanded as the others aimed their guns at Sonic. "Who are you?"

Sonic smiled with confidence as he answered their question. "The name's Sonic. And I'm here to make sure that you don't lay a finger on my friend."

"So you're protecting the girl? That's too bad. Men, prepare to fire." Every soldier in the area cocked their guns and waited for the signal to fire at Sonic. "Blast him!" Guns fired left and right at Sonic as he sped through all of them and attacked ten G.U.N. troops in only a few seconds.

Everyone was on the edge as they watch Sonic barely dodge every bullet that was shot at him. They all held their breath at his recklessness.

"Come on you guys, is that the best you can do? This isn't even a challenge." Sonic kept speeding past their bullets with a grin on his face.

"I've had enough of this!" The G.U.N. soldier that gave the order to fire shot a net at the ground a few feet passed Sonic.

"We're you even aiming?" Sonic gloated, but wasn't paying attention to where he was going. Once he stepped onto the net, it closed on him and stopped him where he fell. "What the hell?" He tried to struggle out of the net, but he was too tangled in it to break out.

Soon he was surrounded by soldiers and their guns that pointed straight at his head. "Misuki, we have your friend in custody! If you don't want him harmed, surrender yourself now!"

"Oh no! They got Sonic!" Amy exclaimed, in shock at seeing Sonic helpless and on the brink of death. "We've got to do something! They're going to hurt him if we don't!"

'This is exactly what I didn't want happening.' Misuki felt her heart being crushed by the weight of her guilt.

"That's it!" Knuckles punched the wall in absolute rage. "I'll go out there and give those bastards a piece of my mind!" He ran out of the room to have a showdown with every soldier out there. No one had enough time to stop him, so they all just watched Knuckles punch a few troops to the ground before being hit with a tazer and knocked down.

More weight was put on Misuki, seeing two of her friends risk their lives for her. "Those idiots. I told them not to go out there."

"But they did it for you, Misuki." Tails told her. "They wanted to protect you, and were prepared to put their lives on the line for…"

"I didn't ask for them to go that far for me!" She exclaimed in anger and sadness. "Everyone I was close to risked everything for me; including my father. He willingly gave up his life in order to protect me and keep me alive. I've always ran away, letting everyone else fight my battles for me. But not anymore." Misuki walked over to the exit, ready to face her fears and do what she thought was right in her heart.

"Misuki, where are you going?" Cream asked.

"I'm doing what I feel I should do." She answered, not looking back at her or the others. "Everyone's done so much to protect me, and now I want to do the same." She walked out without saying another word, keeping her tears hidden from them. Misuki stood at the main entrance of the ship and kept a brave face in front of the G.U.N. troops that aimed their weapons at her.

"Well, well, well, we finally found you." The Commander of the G.U.N. Army came out of the crowd of soldiers with a grin on his face. "It's been a long time since we've seen you. You've grown up quite a bit."

She tightened her grip, seeing him again and hearing his annoying voice. "I'm a lot tougher too, since you killed my father and his employees."

The Commander chuckled at her bravery, holding his left hand up to prepare the other soldiers for fire. "Any last words before we wipe you out, Misuki Hikotsu?"

Misuki looked over at Sonic and Knuckles, who were both furious at what was about to happen to Misuki. "Don't do this, Misuki! You don't have to give up your life! You have to live and keep fighting to the very end!" Knuckles shouted out as he struggled to break free from the handcuffs that bound his hands together. "What about your hopes of reuniting with Shadow? Don't you want to bring him back?"

"It's true I do." Misuki sobbed, wiping her tears away. "But…if I don't do this now, more people will get hurt because of me." Through her tears, she actually forced a smile to form on her face as she stared at Sonic. "I want to thank you and everyone else for standing by me through everything. Please, remember me as I was and keep smiling for me. I'll cherish every memory I've made with all of you." She closed her eyes, prepared to feel intense pain. She heard the Commander give the okay to fire, which made Misuki feel a warm light form inside of her. She pictured her father's face and was happy at the thought of seeing him again. While her eyes were closed, she heard guns fire, but was curious as to why she didn't feel a single one of them. When she opened her eyes, Misuki found herself in the arms of Shadow who stood on top of the ship. 'It's Shadow.' Her expression showed happiness and surprise to see Shadow actually saving her. 'He actually saved me. Is this really happening?'


	7. Please Don't Go

**Seven: Please Don't Go**

**Shadow:** "Shadow…you saved me." Misuki's voice was filled with shock, her eyes wide open at seeing Shadow before her eyes.

He looked at her as he set her down and then glared at the G.U.N. soldiers who were all frozen with the same expression as Misuki. "Willingly giving up your life for a pointless cause. How pathetic." He jumped down from the ship and stood in front of the soldiers with a poker face, tightening his gloves and cracking his knuckles. "You wanted me? Here I am."

The Commander growled at the sight of Shadow, disgusted by his appearance. "You arrogant bastard! I'm going to enjoy blowing you sky high! Men…gun him down!" All of the soldiers fired every round they had at Shadow as he dodged every one of them with ease and knocked half of them out with no problem before returning to his original position in front of the ship.

"Too easy." Shadow said as he watched half of the soldiers collapse to the ground thirty seconds after he stopped attacking. The Commander looked back and couldn't tell if they were knocked out or dead. "Do you want to try again?" He gloated, chuckling out of cockiness. "I can do this all day if I want to."

One of the soldiers brought out a rocket launcher and aimed it right at Shadow. "Try dodging this you freak!" The soldier fired the rocket directly at Shadow without waiting for the order to do so.

"Is that really the best you can do?" Shadow held his hands out and caught the rocket just as it was in mid-flight. He then tossed it into the air and watched it explode into fireworks. After it did, Shadow charged again at a few more soldiers while their guards were down until the only one standing was the Commander. He was frozen as Shadow quickly got behind him, holding a gun to the back of his head. "Did you really think you could beat me?" He cocked his gun and rested his hand on the trigger. "I'll spare you for now. However…you show your ugly mugs around here again, I won't hold back. Remember that."

With no other plan, the Commander had no choice but to run for his life and leave all of his soldiers behind.

After he fled, Shadow shot the de-cloaking device and shut it down for good, while Misuki helped Knuckles and Sonic get free. "Shadow, was killing them really necessary?" Sonic asked.

"Don't get upset." Shadow told him. "They're only knocked out. They'll wake up in a few hours completely clueless of what happened. So I suggest you get out of here while you can."

"Shadow wait!" Misuki's voice forced him to stop after he started walking away. "I just wanted to…thank you for saving me."

Shadow paused for a while before chucking. "Don't get the wrong idea." He said with a monotone voice. "I only did it because you have a Chaos Emerald in you. There was no telling what would happen to it if you died. Just be lucky that I'm sparing your lives for right now. The next time we meet…I will capture you." He finally took off before Misuki was able to say another word to him.

When he returned to Eggman's ship, Shadow threw his coat off and just stared out the window. "Where have you been, Shadow? I was looking everywhere for you!" The Doctor entered the room in a panicked rage.

"Don't freak out. I just did a little patrol for any stray Chaos Emeralds." He didn't tell Eggman that he saw Misuki and let her go free, because in his mind it was none of his business.

"I hope you found something on your little stroll."

"Of course I did." Shadow said as he typed in the coordinates to Earth. Once he did, the computer began detecting a Chaos Emerald. "Those humans have a Chaos Emerald somewhere down there. Since they're all weak, all we have to do is find its location before Sonic and claim it as ours."

"Simply brilliant, Shadow! I knew I could count on you!" Eggman jumped around in joy at Shadow's accomplishment. He grabbed Shadows hands and danced with him in excitement.

Shadow broke free of Eggman's grip in the middle of the third spin. He brushed himself off and went to prepare himself to go back down to Earth for the Chaos Emerald. 'She's probably moved by now.' He thought, thinking about Misuki and for some reason…her safety.

Memories returned to his mind once again. The memory he thought of was the one when he and Misuki were playing in the artificial garden her father made for them.

"_Shadow, look at these flowers!" The sweet innocent Misuki ran to him, showing him the three little flowers she had picked for him. "Aren't they pretty?"_

_ Shadow nodded as he took them and stared deep into them, jealous of their beauty and life. "These flowers are just like me." He said out of the blue._

_ Misuki looked up at him in confusion. "What do you mean by that?" she asked._

_ "They're forced to grow under a fake sun, and will never see the real sun and take in its beauty."_

_ She placed her hand over his, understanding what he was talking about. "Don't worry, Shadow. One day you will be able to walk outside and be a part of human society."_

_ "What if they don't accept me?" _

_ Misuki stared at him with a disappointed look because he was thinking negatively. "Shadow, look at me." She grabbed his face and forced Shadow to look into her eyes. "They will accept you. All you have to do is be yourself and you'll make friends in no time." Misuki smiled at him, making him feel warm on the inside. "I promise I'll get you to the outside world anyway I can." Misuki held up her pinkie as a sign of promise. _

_ Shadow wrapped his pinkie around hers and shook their hands three times. "It's a promise."_

**Misuki:** Misuki stayed in her room, thinking about Shadow and the way he treated her after saving her life. No matter what she did, she couldn't cheer herself up from the sadness that filled her heart. 'Shadow…Eggman really has gotten to you.' She thought to herself. 'Your eyes…they were more blank and emotionless than before.

"Hey, Misuki come in. Are you there?" A call came to her communicator watch. Misuki answered the call to see Knuckles.

"Is everything okay, Knuckles?" she asked, sitting up in the bed with her lower body still wrapped in blankets.

He nodded. "Everything's fine, but we would like you to join us in the cock pit so we can talk about our next plan. We can't discuss anything without you."

"I'll be there in a bit." She hung up the call, not moving from her position until three minutes passed. When she decided to move, she removed the covers from over her and then stretched to wake herself up. To wake up even more, she got the idea to go to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. Stepping into the kitchen for some reason made Misuki somewhat relaxed as she felt a small portion of her tension and stress lift from her being and fade away into nothingness. That same sensation returned once she heated a cup of water and poured a package of green tea into the cup and stirred for about five minutes. The smell of it opened her pores and relaxed her breathing. When she took that first sip was when she began to loosen up and her mind finally cleared itself of any and all negative thoughts that plagued her. "Sorry it took me so long, guys." Misuki apologized as she entered the room and stood next to Tails in the pilot's seat. "I wanted to something to settle my nerves."

"That's okay, Misuki." Tails said. "We were waiting for you come here so we could discuss where we're going to settle in. We can't live in a space ship forever."

"You're right, Tails." Sonic agreed, looking at the different towns and cities that made up planet Earth. "There has to be some place we can call home."

Listening to the three of them talk with each other reminded Misuki that there was a place they could go to and claim as home. "Hey Tails, do you mind if I take the wheel for a while?" she asked him, looking over his shoulder at the radar. "I think I might have a solution to our problem."

Tails quickly and easily gave up his pilot's seat without argument or question.

Misuki jumped into the seat the second Tails got out of the seat, and took the ship out of park and flew it in the opposite direction it was facing. "This flight might be a while, so you might as well get comfy." Misuki flew the ship with the biggest smile any of them have seen in a long while. She knew the perfect place they could go to that would also hide the ship and keep Eggman from finding them.

After two hours of flying, they finally arrived at their destination. "Hey guys, we're almost there." She made an announcement over the intercom to get Sonic and the others to the pilot's quarters as soon as possible.

Sonic arrived within a few seconds, with a chilidog in hand and still chewing the first bite of it. "Where exactly are we, Misuki?" He asked as Knuckles and Espio entered two minutes later.

"This place is called New York." She answered, lost in the scenery of the tall buildings and busy streets. "It's one of the largest cities in the world, that's busy during the day and wild and crazy at night. People also gave this place the nickname, 'The city that never sleeps'."

Everyone was taken in by how many people were walking the streets and going all over the place without stopping to rest. "This place is great, but where do we go from here? You said there was a place we could live."

"Stay patient, Vector." She told him. "Now that we're here, the house is only a few blocks away. We'll be there in ten minutes easy." Misuki took one last look at the scenery before taking off to the neighborhood they would soon call home. The neighborhood was small, but the houses were half the size of mansions. The house she stopped at was the second to last house on the corner that lead out of the neighborhood and into another district of the area. She carefully landed the giant ship in the backyard that could fit a private jet right in the center of it. Once they safely landed on the ground, Misuki got out of the pilot's seat and hurried to the ship's exit to show everyone around. "Welcome to my childhood home."

"I thought you grew up in your dad's underground lab in that town we just left." Amy said, admiring the beauty of the garden.

"I did, but I was born here." Misuki corrected. "My father used to work from here so my mom could give birth to me in a normal environment upon her wish. Whenever my father got free time from his work, or I was out of school he'd bring me back here for vacation."

"Has Shadow ever been here?" Sonic asked, leaning against the ship.

"Only twice. My dad had a habit of brining his work with him on any vacation he took, so Shadow kept me company if he was too busy to play with me." Misuki walked up to the door and placed a hand on a certain spot that scanned it, and then revealed a secret keyboard just underneath the spot. She typed in a four-digit code and it unlocked the door to the house. "Did I mention that my dad made sure this place was secured so no one could break in and steal his research?" She giggled as she opened the door and stepped into a room filled with books and a small work place in between two giant book cases just to the right of the door.

Sonic and the others entered the room, filling it with 'oohs' and 'ahhs'. They all stared at book shelves and the thousands of books that sat on them free of dust. "This place is incredible." Sonic said. "Is this your father's study?"

Misuki giggled, knowing that someone would ask that. "No, this is the library. His study is in the lab."

"What are these books over here, Misuki?" Espio asked, skimming through a navy blue book that he noticed had her father's name on it.

"Oh, my dad had a business partner before he proposed to my mom. They were studying robot mechanics and actually wrote a book about it. That's the third volume of the series. There are four volumes in total. All of them are the original copies. You're welcome to read them if you like." She watched as Espio closed the third book and put it back in its original spot before taking the first volume and started reading it.

"Uhh, Misuki, where are we going to hide the ship?" Knuckles asked, pointing back outside to the giant ship taking up almost half of the yard. "We'll stick out like a sore thumb."

Misuki smiled as she walked over to a random section of the library and reached for a red and gold book. She took it from the shelf and opened it to reveal a keyboard inside it. She typed in another code and pushed a blue button next to the keyboard before putting the book back in its place and waiting for a few minutes. She gestured for everyone to look back outside to watch the ship slowly sink below the ground.

The ship submerged underground within a minute, replacing the yard with a brand new patch of ground where the ship once was. After the hole in the ground was completely gone, Misuki walked towards the trophy case that held her father's rewards and opened a small patch in the wall and pushed a hidden button. When she did, the trophy case spun around and turned into an elevator. "Hop in. Or you won't get to see the surprise." She gestured them to get in with her before the elevator closed.

"Where exactly does it lead to?" Knuckles asked as he and the others entered the elevator.

"You'll find out." Misuki pushed the down button to close the doors and begin the descend. The ride didn't last too long. They soon found themselves in an underground laboratory with high tech machines and computers. "I told you it was worth waiting for."

"This place is amazing!" Tails was the most excited out of the entire group as he ran around and checked out all of the equipment that surrounded them.

The ship was in a hanger behind a door with a pair of white wings painted on the front of it. "My dad was curious about planes and jets himself that he actually built a few himself. The military paid him tons of money for them, along with the data he used to build them."

"Misuki, is it okay if I use this lab for making new weapons and equipment?" Tails asked.

"Of course you can big guy." She rustled his hair, laughing at him for asking such a dumb question. "This house is ours. There's no need to ask for permission to do anything. Feel free to do whatever you want."

Back upstairs, Misuki gave everyone the grand tour of the rest of the house and then let everyone pick the rooms they wanted to call their own.

**Shadow:** "New York…Misuki's birthplace." Shadow glared at the window, disgusted by the people walking the streets freely. He wanted to put everything to an end there and now so he wouldn't have to look at them anymore. "The signal of the Emerald is stronger here. Which means it's somewhere in this city."

"I want you to go down there and search for it, Shadow. Call me once you do." Eggman tossed Shadow a watch to report to him if he succeeded in his mission. "Don't fail me."

Shadow used Chaos Control to teleport himself in a dark alley so no one would see him. He looked around to make sure no one saw him just appear and then walked through a crowd of people, blending in. He walked among them with ease, not drawing any type of attention but still having the sensation that those who passed him were judging him and could see that he wasn't like them. 'They're all plotting against me. They all want me dead. I'll destroy them before they destroy me.'

"Sonic, we're going to leave without you. Hurry up already."

The name Sonic made Shadow stop in his tracks and look to the other side of the street to see Misuki, Sonic and some of their friends looking through a store window and then continuing on in the opposite direction he was going. "This is unexpected." He said with a grin on his face. "But this is could work in my favor."

"Shadow, come in! Do you read me?"

Shadow pushed the answer button on his watch to respond to Eggman's call. "I'm here Doctor. What do you have to report?"

"I picked up the location of the Chaos Emerald! I'm sending them to you now! Hurry and retrieve it before Sonic gets his hands on it!"

**Misuki:** "Are you okay, Misuki?" Knuckles asked. "You don't look so good."

Misuki found herself on the ground as her body was tingling all over, causing some of her nerves to switch on and off for a few minutes. There was only one explanation for her sensation: "There's a…Chaos Emerald in the area. We...have to find it."

"How far away is it from here?" Knuckles asked, helping her up from the ground.

Misuki pointed towards the direction she was facing, when she finally recovered and stood back up on her feet. Before she even attempted to take a step, Misuki looked over and saw that Shadow was standing across from them, glaring at them. "Over there, it's Shadow!"

The moment she said his name, Shadow rushed over to them and used Chaos Spear to attack them. They all jumped out of the way just in time. The blast caused a frenzy among the crowd and made them all flee in fear and panic. When Misuki looked up and the smoke cleared, she noticed Shadow was gone. "Shadow went after the Chaos Emerald!"

"That bastard! If he thinks he's going to get that Chaos Emerald, he's got another thing coming!" Knuckles charged after Shadow without thinking or listening to any type of strategy Sonic or Misuki had to say.

"We have to go after him, Sonic!" Misuki said, referring to Shadow. "Who knows what'll happen if he gets that Chaos Emerald!"

Sonic tossed Misuki on his back and took off after Knuckles and Shadow. "Misuki, I'll distract Shadow while you and Knuckles go after the Emerald!"

"Will you be okay?" She asked.

"Don't worry, Misuki. I can handle Shadow."


	8. Secret Hero

**Eight: Secret Hero**

**Misuki:** "How much further is the Chaos Emerald?" Sonic asked, keeping the same speed he started at.

Misuki tried concentrating on the Emerald to get an actual location. All she could sense was the one Shadow carried around with him. 'I'm picking up Shadow's Emerald, but what about the one I sensed a while ago?' There was so much power flowing around that it was hard for her to focus on just a small portion of it. Finally the one she was looking for came out of the shadows. "Turn here! Shadow's coming up just a few meters ahead! We have to stop him!"

Sonic drifted into the turn and then picked up more speed as he went down the road, determined to not only get the Chaos Emerald but to face Shadow in battle. "You were on it, Misuki." He said. "Look who's in front of us." Within seconds they had caught up with Shadow who turned around and attempted to shoot at them. "Hang on, Misuki! This could get a little bumpy!" Sonic managed to dodge every bullet fired at him, eventually passing Shadow and stopping in front of him. Misuki climbed off his back as Shadow came to a stop right in front of them. "Misuki, I want you to go after the Emerald. Leave Shadow to me." He whispered to her, keeping his focus on Shadow to make sure he didn't do anything funny or sneaky.

Without any response, she took off and didn't look back to see what would transpire the minute she took off. 'Sonic, come back alive.' The Chaos Emerald was coming up quicker and quicker until she saw Knuckles standing in the middle of the road. "Knuckles, over here!"

"Misuki, I thought you were with Sonic."

"He's fighting Shadow. He told me to go and find the Emerald." She gasped as energy flashed through her body, causing her to freeze for a split second. "The Chaos Emerald! It's just ahead! Hurry up, Knuckles!" Misuki took off once again, leaving Knuckles in the dust as he tried to keep up with her. The speed she was going was incredible. The power of the Emerald inside of her coursed through her veins and allowed her to unlock speed that almost surpassed Sonic and Shadow combined. The Emerald was in sight, sitting in the window of a small jewelry store. Misuki rushed through the door and stopped at the counter.

The woman at the counter backed away as Misuki used the counter to hold her balance after running so fast and so far. "Umm…can I help you?" she asked with nervousness in her voice.

Before Misuki answered her, Knuckles ran through the door and leaned against it after trying to keep up with her. Misuki pointed at the Emerald as she explained what was going on. "Please, I need that Emerald over there in the window." She gasped in between her sentences out of panic. Time was running out as she had a feeling either Eggman or Shadow would come and snatch the Emerald. "There are people who're after it for its power. We need to secure it before they come and destroy this place. What you have there is a Chaos Emerald; a gem that holds incredible power. If it falls into the wrong hands, this world could end in the blink of an eye. Please…you have to give it to us so we can hide it!"

Unfortunately they ran out of time when Eggman used his robot to break through the window and take the Emerald. As he proceeded to escape, his laugh echoed throughout the city as people ran in terror and buildings toppled and turned to rubble. "This is truly a victory worth celebrating."

"Don't celebrate just yet, Eggman! Chaos Arrow!" Misuki chased after him, using her own Chaos power to stop him from getting away. She fired a few rounds of her Chaos Arrows while Knuckles got the opportunity to jump onto the robot's arm and take the Emerald.

Just as he grabbed it and escaped, Eggman regained his balance and knocked Knuckles out into a building, taking back the Emerald. "Hohoho, nice try Knuckles! But I'm afraid I can't let you take my Emerald as easily as that!"

"This isn't over, Eggman!" Misuki exclaimed, still chasing him down. "I'll be damned if I let you get away with that Emerald!" Misuki could hear the Emerald call for her; begging her to save it before Eggman got away. Hearing the voice of it cry out for help caused her anger to rise to the point where she was able to get close to the robot jump on the arm and detach it with her Chaos Arrow. The arm fell off, giving Misuki the chance to jump onto the hatch where Eggman was, break in and take the Emerald from him.

"You sneaky little thief!"

"Look who's talking!" Misuki scoffed as she damaged his controls and jumped out before the robot malfunctioned and eventually exploded. After escaping, Misuki's instincts told her to go back to Sonic to help him out with Shadow.

**Shadow:** Sonic got a few good hits on Shadow, but he made a comeback and knocked Sonic off of him and into a building. "You don't give up, do you?" Shadow chuckled, as he watched Sonic struggle to get up. "It's better if you just give up now and save yourself the agony of defeat."

Sonic stood on his feet, chuckling to himself at Shadow's statement. "Unlike you, I'm fighting for my friends. One in particular that you continue to hurt and ignore." He launched himself at Shadow, and met him in a dead lock of strength and will. "Misuki's trying her best to make up with you, but you always turn her away and refuse to hear her out!"

"I refuse to hear her lies! She and the others betrayed me! I'll never forgive them!" Shadow drew out enough energy to push Sonic away from him and then strike him with a violent punch to the face. The impact caused Sonic to fly through the air and land in a pile of rubble. "If you were smart, you'd abandon her now before she tells you more lies and then leaves you to die."

"Sonic, I'm coming!"

Both of them looked over to see Misuki run their way with the Chaos Emerald in hand. "Misuki, stay back! It's too dangerous!" Sonic warned her.

"This is just perfect." Shadow raced to get to Misuki and take the Emerald she held in her hand. Sonic intersected him, elbowing Shadow in the stomach. "Damn it!"

"Shadow come in! Misuki has the Chaos Emerald! Get it back by any means necessary!" Eggman gave him orders through the communicator.

He got up even angrier that before. "I'm afraid this game of ours must come to an end!" Shadow approached Sonic and Misuki, ready to land the final blow. It would be easy for him to take out Sonic since he was damaged and had little energy in him. "CHAOS SPEAR!" With a swipe of his hand, light spears sped toward Sonic and Misuki, causing an explosion around the two of them. 'That Chaos Emerald is mine.' As he walked through the smoke, he stopped, still sensing their energy.

At the last minute, Misuki put up a shield to protect her and Sonic from the blast. "Did you forget who you're dealing with?" She asked as the shield vanished. "CHAOS ARROW!" Misuki aimed her arrow at Shadow and fired without hesitation. Shadow swung his hand and knocked it out of the way, redirecting it towards the building that was behind him. After he did that, he saw Misuki charge at him, kicking him in the face and knocking him back.

**Misuki:** "I don't want to hurt you, Shadow." She said, halfway out of breath. "But if beating you is the only way to make you sit down and listen to me, then that's the way it has to be!" She rushed towards him again, hoping to get another good hit on him again. But her hopes were crushed when Shadow quickly stood up and blocked her punch before getting behind her and striking her in the back of the neck. She groaned in pain as she fell to the ground, with only half of her strength. 'I don't have enough energy to use Chaos Control.'

She saw Shadow approach her with a murderous intent. He picked her up by her shirt and punched her again in the stomach, causing her to fly passed Sonic and in the middle of the street. The pain that coursed through her body was intense to where she almost felt paralyzed.

Shadow burst through all the rubble to get to Misuki. "This ends now." He went to take another step when he felt something grab his leg. He looked down to see that Sonic gathered his last bit of strength to get to Shadow.

"I won't…let you hurt her, Shadow." He strained, doing his best to keep his grip.

Misuki struggled to get to her feet, despite the pain. As she watched Shadow kick Sonic off of him, she began sensing another presence. 'Where is that presence coming from?' She looked around to find out where the energy was hiding. When she looked back up in front of her, Shadow was right there with his fist up in the air. As he was about to land a blow on her, a gun went off in the distance. The same time Misuki heard gunfire, Shadow collapsed in front of her with a small gunshot wound in his back. "Shadow, are you okay?" Misuki got back on the ground to check on Shadow. "Please Shadow! You have to wake up!" She shook him distraught over seeing him unconscious. She got on her communicator to contact help. "Tails come in! We have an emergency! Shadow's been hurt! Please send an emergency transport! Quickly!"

"Hang in there, Misuki! Help is on the way!" Tails responded and then hung up.

Shortly afterwards, Knuckles found them out of breath from fighting Eggman. "What the hell happened?" he asked.

"Shadow was…" Misuki couldn't finish the sentence, looking down at Shadow and feeling half of herself fading away. Endless tears fell from her face, splashing Shadow on the cheek. She felt Knuckles rub her back to comfort her.

Tails finally arrived an hour later and picked everyone up. When they got back to the house, Espio was waiting for them in the backyard. Knuckles and Tails carried the unconscious Shadow out of the ship and handed him to Espio, who took him to the infirmary in the basement and began to operate on him. Knuckles took Misuki to her room to let her rest as he treated her wounds. Her expression was the same as when she got in the ship: shocked and a bit blank. She laid in bed, staring at her father's charm bracelet until she fell asleep close to one 'o' clock in the morning.

Misuki dreamed about a day when she came home from school in tears because some of the older kids had picked on her while she rode the bus. She went into the garden and cried by herself for about an hour until Shadow came and placed a hand on her shoulder. It was a week since Misuki first met Shadow, so she was still slightly scared of him being that close to her. But at the same time, Misuki felt a bit of comfort when Shadow was near her. Her body moved on its own, grabbing Shadow and crying in his chest, letting all of her sorrow out in front of him. He wrapped the sad little Misuki in his arms, letting her cry until she felt better. After she finished, she gave Shadow a book she had been reading and read the first few chapters to him until she fell asleep.

Around eleven fifteen, Misuki stood outside the infirmary and stared at Shadow's unconscious body. 'I'm sorry, Shadow. All of this is my fault.' A single tear fell from her eye the longer she stared at him.

"Misuki, you're finally awake." Sonic stood next to Misuki, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You missed breakfast. But if you want, I can ask Espio to make something for you if you want."

She continued staring at Shadow in silence.

Sonic felt Misuki's body tremble the longer she stared at Shadow. He sighed out of concern for her. "Espio finished the surgery around midnight. Luckily the bullet didn't hit him in any vital organs. He might be out for a while." Silence lingered around them, as Misuki continued looking at Shadow with a hypnotic gaze, hoping he'd wake up.

"There you are, Sonic." Espio came down the hallway. "I see Misuki's with you too. I made a little something for you in case you were hungry."

Misuki had no reaction to Espio's arrival. She was deep in thought to where it was as if her body seemed lifeless. Her body stopped shaking, and her breathing slowed down.

"I explained everything to her, but she's been like this since she woke up."

"There's nothing for you to worry about, Misuki." Espio's voice somehow got Misuki to move at last and look up at him. "It was hard to get the bullet out without hitting any important organs, but after it finally came out, patching him up was easy. The medicine I put in his I.V. should heal him quickly. He'll be out for at least a week."

Misuki nodded her head, giving Espio a small smile. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up, you guys." She finally spoke. "I promise I'll be fine. I'm just taking everything in. Being this close to Shadow…without him trying to fight us, makes me kind of happy."

In the dining room, Espio brought Misuki a small bowl of miso soup. "So Misuki, you really haven't told us a lot about your past. Maybe if we knew a little more, we could help convince Shadow to stay with us."

Misuki blew on the soup and took a sip of it before going in detail about her past with Shadow. "When I first met Shadow, I was afraid of him. My father told him to protect me no matter what."

"And he did?" Espio asked.

Misuki nodded her head. "He was grateful to my father for re-awakening him, so he swore he'd grant him any wish he wanted. Because of my father's orders, Shadow followed me everywhere. There were even times when my father allowed him to go outside to take me to the park. I thought Shadow didn't care whether or not I accepted him or not. He was protecting me for the sake of my father. But…looking back at it now, I realized that he really was trying to get me to acknowledge him as part of the family." As Misuki re-lived her past, she began to smile a little more.

"If you were afraid of Shadow, how did you and him become close?" Espio asked drinking the tea he had made for himself.

She took another sip of the soup to stop her heart from pounding. "I think Sonic and Knuckles are the only ones I told about this." She looked over at Sonic who knew just what story she was about to tell. "Because of my father's success, he began to make quite a few enemies. Some of those enemies decided to play dirty, and actually target me. I was asleep in my bed when some masked men broke into my room and tried to take me hostage. They held a gun to my head and covered my mouth as they attempted to take off with me. Just as they were about to leave the room, Shadow blocked the door and demanded they release me. The men didn't see Shadow as a threat, and warned them that if he made any move they'd shoot him. I was so scared that I called out his name, which made him act and use Chaos Control to knock the men out and hold a gun up to the man that had a hold of me. In fear, he released me and dropped his gun on the ground. After he did, Shadow knocked the guy out and took his gun. Shadow came to check on me in the corner of the room. He patted me on the head and said, 'Everything's alright now'. When my father came to the scene, Shadow explained everything and had the men thrown out and arrested. As Shadow was about to leave, I grabbed him by the hand and begged him to stay with me. He sat on the edge of the bed and watched me drift back to sleep. Ever since that day I never wanted to be away from him. The two of us were inseparable. He helped me with homework, played with me when my father was busy with work and lots of other things. Being under the same roof as him now is really comforting and brings back wonderful memories, as well as bad ones. As long as he's here…I'll do everything in my power to protect him." After the story was told, Misuki finished off the miso soup and noticed she still had a smile from telling that story. The smile that Shadow used to wear had been lost for a while. Now that Misuki was with him again, she wanted to bring it back and never let it go.

**Sonic:** Even though Misuki was smiling on the outside, Sonic saw the pain she was feeling on the inside. When he first heard that story, Misuki was crying the entire time. The memory caused her more pain than any memory she had of Shadow; except the one that pulled them apart. After Misuki had left, Sonic and Espio went to the kitchen to talk a little more. "All of this is taking its toll on Misuki." Espio said as he continued his tea.

"You're right." Sonic said, running his hand through the water that flowed from the sink. "I'm worried about her. When Shadow wakes up, we'll have to make sure he doesn't upset Misuki in any way." Sonic clenched his fist under the running water, trapping the little bit that spilled into his hand.

"There you are, Sonic!" Knuckles entered the kitchen, sweating from his daily work-out session. "You totally missed our sparring session we were supposed to have."

Sonic took some time to explain what had happened with Misuki and everything that was told.

Knuckles went from energized and full of energy to concerned and a bit depressed. "So she told you everything, Espio?" he asked her.

Espio nodded his head, staring into the small bit of tea he had left in his cup. "I wish there was something we could do for her."

"How was her reaction to telling it? Was it like last time?" Knuckles asked.

"Last time?" Espio looked over at Sonic with confusion.

"Well, when she told the story to Knuckles and I, she was in tears. It didn't seem like they were going to stop." The image of Misuki crying so intensely made Sonic's rage slowly seep out in his eyes, along with the memory of seeing Misuki in tears after rescuing her from Shadow and Eggman. He wanted to take all of her pain and sorrow and crush it into thousands of pieces, just to keep her smiling forever.

"Did she tell you about how she got separated from Shadow?" Knuckles asked.


	9. I'll Protect You

**Nine: I'll Protect You**

**Sonic:** "Did you forget the promise we made?" Sonic asked, drying his hand with a paper towel.

"What promise?" Espio asked.

"Well…the story behind Misuki and Shadow being separated crushed her to tell to us, so we swore we'd never tell it to anyone without her permission." Sonic tightened his fists by his sides, trying to keep his anger and sorrow buried deep inside him due to the concern he felt for Misuki's troubled past.

Espio drank up the last bit of tea that was in his cup and then put it in the dish washer.

After throwing the used paper towel away, Sonic took a deep breath to calm himself before saying, "I say the one thing we can do for Misuki is smile and be there for her. The last thing she needs is to be surrounded by negativity."

"I agree." Knuckles said. "Misuki needs our support. As her friends, we have to look out for her."

The three of them stacked their hands over each other's and vowed to be by Misuki's side to help her now more than ever.

"Now that that's settled Sonic, ready to get some practice in? You still owe me."

"I won't hold back, pal." Sonic and Knuckles took off from the kitchen straight to the gym to fight with each other and blow off some steam. Working out for almost two hours made the two of them feel so much better and made them go back to their normal laid back attitudes.

When Sonic finished working out, he went down to the lab to see what Tails was up to. Instead of finding Tails, he got attacked by Amy who hugged him to the brink of death. "I've been looking everywhere for you, Sonic!" She exclaimed in a high pitched voice. "We haven't spent any time together these past few days. I say we go out! Just you and me!"

"Uhh…well, I just got through working out and…I was going to check on Tails and then take a short nap."

Amy kept her grip on him, not letting him get away. "He's fine; he's very busy with mechanical stuff. Come on, I'm bored sitting around! I wanna have fun! Please Sonic?"

Sonic did his best to break free of Amy's hold but soon gave up and got ready for their date. After he was ready, they left the house immediately to do something fun.

**Misuki:** In the infirmary, Misuki finished changing Shadow's pillows and sheets, along with changing his bandages and putting medicine on his stitches and other wounds he got from fighting with Sonic. "This brings back a lot of memories for me, Shadow." She whispered to herself. "After your training, you'd always have some sort of minor wound or injury. Whenever you did, I'd take you to the hospital wing to treat you the best I could. Why can't things be like that again?" She gently ran her fingers through Shadow's bangs and then down his cheek. Before she left, Misuki kissed his cheek and took one more look at him as she walked out the door.

Misuki put the dirty sheets in the laundry to wash and then threw out the old bandages. "What's up, Misuki!"

She looked down to see Charmy run towards her as he took off his headphones and placed them around his neck. "Hey, Charmy. What're you doing here?" she asked him.

"Vector's making me wash some of his clothes." His face went from happy and cheerful to annoyance and a slight bit of anger. "He said since I make him spill food and drinks on him all the time, I should repay him by doing his laundry. Misuki, make him stop picking on me!" Charmy jumped onto Misuki, crying fake tears and whining like he always did to make others give in to his cuteness.

Misuki pulled him off of her and set him back down in front of her. "I'll take care of the laundry. Just tell Vector that if he picks on you again, he'll be doing all of the chores around here for an entire month." She winked at him, making that an official promise. Charmy giggled with excitement as he winked back at Misuki and then ran out of the room to bug Vector once again. After he left, Misuki got the idea to help everyone release tension that flowed all throughout the house: make her famous homemade cookies. Excited about the idea, she ran to the kitchen and got started, using her mom's recipe that she kept in a journal under the cabinet. 'Mom, your cookies are about to help my friends relax. Be with me.'

After she was finished, she called everyone to the living room. It didn't take long for the gang to crowd up in the living room. The only ones that weren't there were Sonic and Amy, who explained to Misuki when she called that they'd be out for a while. With that in mind, she proceeded. "Thanks everyone for gathering here."

"What's going on, Misuki?" Knuckles asked. "Why are we all here?"

Misuki smiled, trying to keep her emotions in control. "Well…I just wanted to tell all of you that I am grateful to you all for what you've done for me. Honestly, I would've never gotten this far without your help and support. I just had to do something to show my thanks. I decided to bake my mom's homemade cookies." She brought out the baker's dozen tray of sugar cookies she set out to cool.

Everyone jumped in to get one cookie each. "These smell amazing!" Charmy exclaimed, eating his in one bite. "Yum! They taste amazing too!" He reached for two more cookies and continued munching on them.

"These are the best cookies I've ever had in my life." Cream said with a gleaming smile. "Misuki, may I have another?" she asked.

"Of course you can." Misuki let Cream and Cheese each take another cookie from the tray. "There's another batch in the oven, so there'll be plenty for everyone. Just make sure to leave a few for Sonic and Amy when they come back."

Just as Misuki said that, she heard the front door open and then closed. "Hey guys, we're back. Where is everyone?"

Misuki met Sonic and Amy at the door. "Hey guys, I made some cookies. Have some." She presented the half empty tray of cookies to the two of them. "It's my mom's old recipe. I hope you like them."

Sonic and Amy both took a cookie and bit into it. They both gasped in pleasure as the sweet flavor travelled through every last taste bud. "These are great, Misuki." Sonic said, eating the rest of his in one bite.

"It's so sweet and tasty." Amy said. "I feel like I'm floating on a cloud."

"There's more where that came from. I'm going to check on the other batch. Take these back to the living room so everyone can have more." Misuki handed the tray to Amy before taking off to the kitchen.

Sonic followed her and stood back as she turned off the stove and took out the next batch of cookies from the oven. "Okay, what's the occasion?" Sonic asked, folding his arms and smiling.

"No occasion." She answered casually. "Just my way of saying thanks for being there for me and always having my back." She set the hot oven tray down on the stove and leaned over to turn the oven off and let the cookies cool for a short minute. "I just felt like doing something nice for my friends. Plus, this is a great stress reliever."

"You're mom's probably proud of you for using her recipe for friends."

"Whenever my dad was tired from work or it was an anniversary or just because she felt like it, my mom would make cookies for him all the time. Then my dad made them one day for me when I came home from school." After a few minutes past, Misuki picked up the slightly cool tray and held it in front of Sonic for him to take another one. "How's Shadow?"

The mention of Shadow made Misuki tremble a little, almost dropping the tray of cookies on the ground. She got a hold of herself after the smell of cookies brought her back. "He's fine for now. I just changed his sheets and gave him new ones while the others are in the washer. I want him to wake up soon."

Sonic placed a hand on Misuki's shoulder. "He'll wake up soon. After a good rest, he'll be back to normal. Then hopefully he'll change his attitude towards us; mainly you."

"I hope you're right." She gave him a smile before taking the cookies out to the others. The first tray had only three cookies left, and Vector was holding Charmy back from eating anymore. Misuki and Sonic both broke out laughing when they saw that.

After the gathering, Misuki grabbed herself a cup of tea and went to sit in the infirmary with Shadow. She had five cookies she munched on every now and them. "You look so peaceful." She sat on the edge of the bed, playing with Shadow's bangs. "You probably can't hear me…but I'll fight for you till the very end." She placed a hand over his and clenched it, keeping strong her emotions and spirit. "One way or another, I'll re-create our bond."

"It's strange how Eggman hasn't made any attacks on us lately." Espio said, monitoring any suspicious movements in the city.

"There aren't even any news reports about him." Misuki said. "I have a bad feeling about this. It's not right for Eggman to call for an attack, and then vanish after he is defeated."

"His last attack was almost four days ago…which is the same time we brought Shadow in to heal."

"That's another thing; it pisses me off at the fact that Eggman sends Shadow out to retrieve the Chaos Emerald, but when he gets severely injured, Eggman just leaves him behind without a second thought." Misuki kept her anger hidden inside of her, focusing on any Chaos Energy that she would pick up instead of the computer. "There are no Chaos Emeralds anywhere near here. It might be safe to do a search as soon as we can just in case Eggman decides to make another move."

Espio agreed with her, doing one more quick scan around the area. "I'll tell Sonic. He'll be happy to lead the search party."

"That's taken care of." Misuki said, holding a tracker in her hand with a blue blinking light quickly moving throughout the radar. "Sonic left with Amy, Tails and Knuckles early this morning. So far they haven't found a single trace of a Chaos Emerald. Plus, because of Sonic's anxiousness, they won't be back until really late tonight."

"So they thought ahead." Espio caught the tracker Misuki threw at him in mid-sentence before she proceeded to walk out of the room.

"Yep. This whole plan was Sonic's. So if you give anyone credit, give it to him." She walked out of the room to take a shower before preparing for dinner. The hot water that ran through her hair and down her body let all of her fears wash away until she was soon wearing a smile. 'Everything will be alright.' Misuki thought. 'Shadow's been there for me in the past and protected me. Now I get to return the favor.' In the middle of her thinking, Misuki thought back to the time she was first introduced to Shadow.

_It was around the time Misuki was about five years old. She was playing in her room, when her father called her into the lab for something important. "You wanted to see me papa?" She asked, running next to him._

_ "Yes, Misuki. There's someone I'd like you to meet." He took her hand and led her to the cent her of the lab, where she saw a strange man with black and red hair. He wore an opened coat with fur, and a fishnet shirt underneath it. Misuki gripped her father's hand tighter as she slowly slipped behind him. "Misuki, I'd like you to meet Shadow. Shadow, this is my daughter Misuki." Her father stepped in front of her, gently pushing her closer towards Shadow. "Say hello, sweetie." He whispered to her._

_ Shadow knelt to his knees and held his hand out to Misuki. "Nice to meet you, Misuki." He said with a small smile._

_ Misuki looked up at him, slightly blushing in shyness and fear. She looked from his eyes to his hand and then back to his eyes. She couldn't deny that she was mesmerized by the beautiful color of his red eyes, but staring at Shadow too long caused her heart to pound rapidly to the point where she ran back towards her father and into his arms._

_ Shadow stood up with the Professor. "I'm sorry, Shadow." He apologized, rubbing his daughter's back to calm her down. "She's been shy since she was two. But give her some time and she'll warm up to you in no time."_

'Looking back on it, I realized that Shadow was pained by the fact that I didn't accept him right then. But even still…he remained by my side.' Misuki slipped on some house clothes, dried her hair and went to prepare dinner for everyone. She decided to make grilled chicken with rice and vegetables.

"What smells good in here?" Vector came into the kitchen as he lowered his headphones from his ears to around his neck.

"Just cooking dinner. It should be ready in a few more minutes." Misuki said as he tossed the chicken around in the pan over and over again until it got a grill smell and started to slightly turn golden brown. "What have you been doing all day?" she asked him.

Vector blushed as he scratched her head. "Umm…I…"

"He sat on his butt, listening to music and sleeping like a baby!" Charmy jumped on top of Vector's head, laughing happily as he leapt down onto the floor.

"Why you little brat!" Vector tried to grab Charmy, but fell over when Charmy jumped out of the way and out of the kitchen. "Come back here!" He chased after him, steam coming out of his ears.

Misuki went back to cooking when she realized that it was late. "I'd better call Sonic to see if he and the others are on their way."

"Too late." Misuki turned around to see Sonic and Amy standing outside the kitchen door. "We got back just five minutes ago. We had to help Tails with some things in the equipment room and then came up here."

"Awesome! But…where's Knuckles?"

"He went to take a shower before dinner." Amy answered.

"So, did you guys find anything?"

There was a short pause as Sonic and Amy looked at each other. "Unfortunately, we couldn't locate any Emeralds, or Eggman." Sonic scratched the back of his head in disappointment. "I wish we had a clue as to what his next move will be. Thinking about it makes me a bit uneasy."

"Same here." Misuki agreed, dumping the veggies and rice in a serving bowl. "Espio and I were talking about it a few hours ago. His only advice is to just keep an eye on the computer every once in a while."

"Sounds like a plan." Sonic said. He went over to get the bowl with the rice and veggies and did Misuki a favor by carrying it to the dining room. "Well we're not going to figure anything out with an empty stomach. We'll think better with food in us. That mission made me hungry."

Misuki and Amy laughed at him as he walked out the door. Misuki turned around and finished cooking the chicken that took longer since she wanted to add some more spices to bring its flavor out. Finally it was finished, and she was dining with everyone happily and carefree.

After dinner was done and the dishes were all put up, Misuki grabbed her blanket and pillow from her room and headed towards the infirmary. She spread the sheets over the couch and laid across it, staring at Shadow. "We'll be happy together someday." She whispered. "I just have to not ever give up."


	10. ReCreating our Bond

**Ten: Re-Creating our Bond**

Author's Note: Hi there! Before you read this, I'd like you to comment on this and the other chapters. Thank you. I like criticism on my work. Also comment on future chapters. Enjoy ^^

**Shadow:** _Shadow knocked on Dr. Hikotsu's door, distraught. "You can come in, Shadow." He answered. "What can I do for you?"_

_ Shadow entered the room and quietly closed the door. "Well Doctor…it's Misuki. I went to check on her, but she's locked herself in her room. I knocked on her door and asked if she could open the door. But she just told me to go away."_

_ Dr. Hikotsu stood up from his chair and picked up a picture of him, Misuki and her mother. He handed the picture frame to Shadow for him to look at. "Do you remember when I told you about my late wife, Shadow?" he asked him._

_ Shadow nodded as he stared at her picture. "Yes I do. You said she got sick sometime after Misuki was born. Then she died around the time Misuki was a few months old."_

_ "Well, today's the anniversary of her mother's death." It pained him to say it. He did his best not to get emotional. Shadow handed back the picture to Dr. Hikotsu, who placed it back in its original place on his desk. "When I told Misuki, she was in shock. She shut herself in her room at our old house and cried that entire day. Now, whenever this day comes around, Misuki goes in a depressed state. She'll lock herself in her room and just lay in her bed crying over her mother's death."_

_ "Have you tried to cheer her up before?" Shadow asked._

_ Dr. Hikotsu nodded. "I have…and I failed every time. As time went on, I realized that it's best to leave her alone. After today passes, she's happy and cheerful as if nothing happened. Shadow, my daughter acts mature for her age, and takes other's feelings to consideration. That's one trait she inherited from her mother."_

_ Shadow stood there, finding it hard to imagine Misuki with a depressed look on her face. 'I never knew she suffered like this.' He thought to himself._

_ "Shadow," Dr. Hikotsu walked up to Shadow and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know I've made you promise this so many times. But I want you to always be with Misuki no matter what. One day I won't be around, and I want to make sure she has someone to look up to."_

_ "Don't worry, Doctor. I promise to always be with her, and keep her smiling." _

Shadow woke up in a daze; the room was blurry for a short while, then his vision cleared. 'Why did that memory come into my head?' He slowly sat up and looked around the room, confused. "Where…am I?" Soon as he asked that question to himself, he had an instant flashback of the battle in the middle of the city. 'I remember: I…got shot by someone. But…'

"Well, it looks like sleeping beauty is finally awake." Shadow looked towards the door to see a man with light purple hair walk in, interrupting his thoughts. "It's a good thing too. We thought we'd have to start planning your funeral."

Shadow growled at him. "You're lucky I can't move. Otherwise…I'd shut that smart-aleck mouth of yours for good. Now tell me where I am."

"You should know where we are. But most of your memories are a bit clouded, so I can't blame you. You're in Misuki's house; the one she was born in. Misuki brought you here after you were shot and let me operate on you to get the bullet out and heal you. By the way, the name's Espio."

Shadow grunted. "I didn't need your help. You should've left me there. I could've taken care of myself."

Espio sighed as he continued checking Shadow's I.V. "Believe me, some of us wanted to. Knuckles, for example was the first one to say it was a bad idea to house you, under the suspicion that you'd try to grab Misuki after you recovered. But, it wasn't his decision to make; it was hers." Espio pointed to the couch, where Misuki was still sleeping peacefully. "If it wasn't for her, you'd be dead somewhere."

Shadow stared at Misuki with blank eyes, and empty thoughts. There was nothing on his mind as he watched her sleep.

"If you should thank anyone for saving your life, it's her."

"Again, she shouldn't have bothered. Eggman would've come and rescued me."

"Is that what you think?"

"What'd you say, you bastard?" Shadow raised a fist, gripping it tighter and tighter until the pressure was too much for him to handle and it began to cause him pain throughout his left arm. He quickly un-gripped it and relaxed his muscles.

Espio chuckled to himself. "That should do it. I'll bring you some medicine and some tea a little later."

"Hold on." Shadow made Espio stop directly in front of the door as it automatically opened. "You're just going to leave her here?" he asked, pointing at the sleeping Misuki, who just tossed around until she was facing away from Shadow and buried herself under the blanket.

"I don't see why not." He answered. "She looks so peaceful, that I'd hate to wake her up by moving her all the way to her room. Besides, she's been hopeful that you'd wake up. So much so that she stayed by your side and did her best to heal and comfort you the entire time you've been asleep. Once she sees that you've woken up, she'll cheer with joy and excitement. Later."

"Shadow…"

Shadow looked back at Misuki when he heard her mumble his name in her sleep. He stared at her, thinking she was going to wake up. 'The only happiness she will see is in her dreams.'

Time passed as Shadow became impatient with just sitting in a bed. He was going to try and escape, when he realized that Sonic and the others had taken his Chaos Emerald. Most of the time when he attempted to stand on his own, he'd feel sharp pain in his back, forcing him to lie back down in the bed. 'Why the hell am I here?' he asked himself. 'They took my communicator, so I can't contact the Doctor. But…why didn't Eggman come to save me before these losers?'

"I can't believe I slept in again. I missed breakfast again." Shadow heard Misuki yawn. He made eye contact with her, which made her form a smile on her face.

**Misuki:** "Shadow, you're finally up!" Misuki quickly sat up, almost losing her balance when she stood up. She fixed her hair, and threw the blankets back on the couch. "I knew you'd wake up soon. Umm…how are you feeling?"

He stared at her without saying anything.

Misuki giggled at the awkwardness as she slowly approached his bed, her hands clenched tightly in her chest. "Your wound is healing quite nicely." She said, peaking at his back. "It looks like it stopped bleeding." She tried to touch it, but Shadow caught Misuki's hand halfway and glared at her. Misuki took her hand back and stepped away from him. "Well…I bet you're hungry." She gathered her blankets and pillow and proceeded to leave the room. "I'll be back later with some food. For now, just take it easy."

She looked at him one last time before closing the door and walking down the hall. As she did, she saw Sonic up ahead, leaning against the wall with a smile on his face. "So, he's awake?" he asked.

Misuki nodded her head excitedly. "It's a relief too. I thought he'd stay asleep forever."

"Was he nice to you?"

"Well…he was in a grumpy mood, but that'll change once he gets something to eat. He hasn't had my cooking in a long while. So tasting my food might put him in a better mood."

"That would make me feel better. Speaking of which, mind fixing two chili dogs for me? I suddenly got a craving."

Misuki laughed at him. "I guess so. I'll call you when it's finished." She said.

"Great! Looking forward to it!" He sped off ahead of her, leaving behind a big gust of wind that made Misuki's hair flare around wildly.

In the kitchen, Misuki put Sonic's hot dogs in a small pan and grilled it the best way she knew how. While they cooked, she tended to Shadow's food. She decided to make him some miso soup and her famous rice balls. 'He hasn't eaten my rice balls since I was six. He'll be surprised that I got better.' She wore a smile as she carefully made two rice balls and prepared the miso soup. She stirred it for a while before checking on Sonic's hot dogs. They were fully done. All Misuki needed to do was smother it with chili, cheese and others ingredients and then give it to Sonic. "Sonic, your chili dogs are almost ready. Come and get them." She contacted him through her watch before putting the finishing touches on them and then focusing on Shadow's miso soup. The minute she began stirring it, Sonic came into the kitchen, mouth drooling. "Knew you'd be here soon. Here you go." Misuki handed the chili dogs to him.

Sonic sniffed then and then blushed at the grilled smell they gave off. "Looks great!" He took one and bit into it, dripping chili on the plate. "Just the way I like it. Thanks, Misuki."

"No prob. Now I have to focus on Shadow's meal."

"I see you're making him some of your awesome rice balls." He said after swallowing his first bite.

"I figured if I made him some, and he ate them, he'd go back to the way he was when I knew him. You think that'll work?" she asked him half-hearted.

Sonic put his chili dogs down and patted her head. He looked at her and winked at her. "If you believe it will, then so do I."

They both smiled at each other before Misuki poured the soup into a bowl, put it on a tray next to the rice balls wrapped in a napkin and walked back towards the infirmary. "Wish me luck, Sonic."

When she got back to the infirmary, Misuki looked in the window to see Espio setting down some medicine and a cup of tea. "Hey Espio." She greeted him as she walked through the door. "When did you make tea? I was in the kitchen." She asked him.

"Oh hello Misuki. I made it in my room. To get him up and moving, I had to mix medicine into the tea. I see you made him some food."

Misuki found herself blushing, almost forgetting about the food she held in her hands. "Oh…yeah, I did. I sort of promised him I would…bring him some food." She set the food down on the table, setting the tea on the other side of the bowl. "I hope you like it." She said, staring at Shadow. "I also…made rice balls for you." No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop her heartbeat from pounding, or her face from turning a bright red. "I'll…uh…just go now. Get better." She quickly got out of the room, and went back to her room where she buried her face in her pillow, remembering his gaze. 'I hope my plan works.' She thought to herself. 'It just has to.'

"Misuki, are you in there?" Knuckles knocked on her door three times.

Misuki sat up, sitting cross-legged while holding the pillow in her lap. "Come in."

"Hey, how are you doing?" he asked as he stepped in the door.

"I'm doing fine." She answered. "I just got finished giving Shadow some food since he just woke up. I also made Sonic a couple of chili dogs because he asked me to."

Knuckles laughed at that. "That's so Sonic." Misuki laughed along with him before he got to why he came to her room. "Since you're not doing anything right now, I was wondering if you wanted to work out. It's been a while since we've sparred."

"I guess we can." Misuki tossed her pillow to the side and jumped off her bed. "I feel like punching you around." She giggled, raising her fist.

"You really think you're going to beat me?" Knuckles joked. They both ran out of Misuki's room and straight to the gym, where they both jumped into the sparring ring and prepared to go at each other. Knuckles took his shirt off and tossed it out of the ring, and slammed his fists together. "Ready to go, Misuki?"

"I'm ready to kick your ass, tough guy." Misuki made the first move and landed a blow on Knuckles' chest, and forced him to stumble backwards.

He regained his balance and rushed Misuki, only to fail as she dodged his punch, grabbed his arm and twisted it backwards before forcing him to the ground for the count.

"What was that about me not being able to beat you?" Misuki gloated, refusing to let him go until he admitted defeat.

"Okay fine." He said, struggling to break free. "You win this round!"

After he said that, Misuki released Knuckles from her death grip, laughing at her victory. "Round one goes to me." The two of them prepared for round two, which Knuckles won. But, Misuki was the victor after the last round had ended and she had two wins up her sleeves. When they finished up, Misuki wiped the sweat from her forehead as she headed back to the infirmary to check on Shadow. She knocked on the door and then opened it. "I'm back." She said, shyly. He didn't say a word, nor did he look at her. "You ate all your food. That's good." She took the dishes off of the table and set it by the sink before going over to Shadow.

She slowly reached for his shoulder when Shadow quickly grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked with a violent tone.

Misuki gritted her teeth, and tried talking past the pain. "I…just want to change your bandages." He glared at her for a while, finally releasing her and letting her change his bandages. She did it in silence, seeing that the rice balls didn't change anything in Shadow. His eyes still had distrust in them and he was still holding a grudge against her.

"Answer me something: why are you doing this?" Shadow asked.

Misuki chuckled softly. "That's easy: because you're important to me, Shadow. No matter what, I'll do everything I can to protect you. Even if you're against it." Shadow was silent the rest of the time Misuki wrapped new bandages around him. "There you go. Good as new." She threw out the old bandages and set out some pills and a glass of water in front of Shadow. "You should take these. They'll keep any pain from entering your body." She stood there, waiting for him to take down the pills. He threw the pills in his mouth and then chugged down the water. "I'll leave you alone so you can get some rest. See you soon." She smiled at him before walking out the door to wash the dishes she took from the room.

After she was done, Misuki went into the living room with Amy, Cream and Cheese watching the cooking channel. She spread across the couch, thinking only about Shadow and how long she was going to be able to keep him with her.

"Did you want to watch something else, Misuki?" Amy asked.

"Uhh, no." she answered. "This is fine. I'm just here to pass the time." The house was boring without Emeralds to chase after and Egg-face to clobber. It got to the point where Misuki wanted to contact Eggman and set up an attack just so she'd have something to do.

A few days had passed since Misuki and the others took Shadow in to heal him after he got shot by someone. From then on, Misuki has been taking care of him by changing his bandages, feeding him and giving him medicine…also making sure he had fresh sheets to sleep in. She even took the liberty into washing his clothes since it was clear he wasn't going to go anywhere for a long while.

It was past ten in the morning. Misuki was making breakfast for everyone, including Shadow. She made extra just for him and delivered it to his room, with a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice on the side. "Here Shadow, I made breakfast for you."

Shadow turned over and stared at the tray of food before staring up at her. After a minute of intense eye contact, Shadow finally said, "I'm not hungry."

"But…you have to eat something." She told him, setting the food down on the table despite his refusal. "You'll never get better if you don't eat something. You're almost fully healed and…"

"Didn't you hear me?" He sat up and yelled at her, almost knocking the table of food over. Instead, it was violently pushed away from the bed, just inches away from the wall where the end of the bed was. "I don't need your pity! It makes me sick just being here! Everything is a constant reminder of my past! You…you just make it worse. My stomach churns every time I breathe the same air as you! Why don't you get it through your thick head that I will never be the same Shadow you knew? You and everyone else betrayed and lied to me, saying you'd be with me no matter what, and that you'd protect me! Is abandonment your way of protecting me!" There was a long silence as Shadow watched tears flow from Misuki's eyes. In his eyes, they were just fake tears, made to only fool him to make him feel sorry for her. "Just get out of my sight." He turned back around, and laid on his side facing away from Misuki.

Misuki wanted to say something; she wanted to explain what really happened in the past, but her body would not let her form words. Instead, she quietly walked out of the room and back to the kitchen, wiping the endless tears from her face. When she got back in the kitchen, she brought out all of the food and set in front of everyone then proceeded to walk out of the dining room.

Sonic's voice stopped her half-way of exiting. "Hey Misuki, aren't you going to join us?" he asked.

Misuki gripped the side of the door, forcing her tears to stay hidden, even though she already knew that Sonic sensed her sadness. Still, she decided to form a wall around herself and hide her feelings. "I'm not really hungry. Go ahead and enjoy yourselves." She walked out of the room before anyone had a chance to ask her another question. The minute the dining room doors closed, Misuki's fountain began to flow once again, smothering her cheeks with sadness and the bitter taste of pain and neglect. To hide herself, she closed herself in with the Master Emerald, praying to it for guidance in her goal.


	11. Emotions

**Eleven: Emotions**

**Shadow:** Shadow sat up in the bed with an unfeeling conscious and stared at the food Misuki had brought in for him. His stomach began to growl from hunger and wanted to reach for the food and chow down. But the instant her sad face entered his head he shook off the feeling and just sat there in silence…until he looked over to see Knuckles and Sonic approaching through the window.

Knuckles burst through the door, holding himself back from slugging Shadow. "What the hell did you say to Misuki, you bastard!"

"Why do you think I did anything?" Shadow scoffed. "You're really hotheaded, aren't you?"

"What did you call me!" Knuckles tried to go at him, but Sonic held him back.

"Calm down, Knuckles." He told him. "Let me handle this." Sonic made sure Knuckles was near the door and somewhat calm. "Look Shadow, Misuki would never skip a chance to eat with us, nor would she sound as depressed as she did after cooking for us. Plus, looking at the tray over there, I can tell that she brought your food before setting it out in the dining room for the rest of us. So that tells me that you did say something to her that made her upset to the point where she skips a meal."

Shadow didn't bother to look Sonic in the eyes. He smiled a little while chuckling to himself. "Fine, if you want the truth here it is: I simply told her that her caring for me is pointless. She's not getting anything out of it, so she should just stop doing me favors."

"That's what you said to her!" Knuckles said, his anger growing further than before. "You think you can turn her away like that, when she's giving everything to help you? You have no idea of the crap she went through after the attack!"

"None of that's my concern!" Shadow exclaimed. "Everything she's gone through has nothing to do with me! If she was stupid enough to go back to her home only to have G.U.N. come and ambush her, then that's on her; not me."

"You selfish asshole!" Knuckles took a few steps towards Shadow before Sonic jumped in front of him and blocked him again with his body.

"Knuckles go back with the others." Sonic suggested. "I'm sure they're just as worried as we are. Go calm them down. I'll take things from here." He guided Knuckles out the door, making sure he didn't try to come back in the room. Sonic waited for Knuckles to pass the window and go straight down the hallway. "Okay Shadow, now we can talk calmly. I'm just as mad as Knuckles is on this. Misuki's doing everything she can to make sure you make a full recovery and to make you more comfortable than Eggman would. Don't take her kindness for granted."

There was a short pause in between the two of them, as Shadow did not try to make any type of eye contact with Sonic. He continued staring at the plate of food knowing it was in the process of cooling down.

"One more thing, Shadow." Sonic said before he left the room. "Misuki's my best friend. I don't like people who mess with my friends and treat them like worthless trash. Maybe if you listen to her side of the story, you'd feel bad about treating her the way you do." Sonic left the infirmary, leaving Shadow to think about his words.

As he did so, he found himself eating the breakfast made for him even though it was ice cold. He still couldn't resist the taste of it. He finished every last bite in thirty minutes, and then chugged down the cold tea left for him by Espio. 'What the hell does he know?' Shadow thought to himself, realizing that he was shaking for no reason. He couldn't figure out if he was shaking out of anger or nervousness from Sonic's words. His speech floated around his head until it annoyed him to the point where he knocked the tray, plate, cup and utensils onto the floor with a loud clatter and shattered across the hard floor. 'Damn he pisses me off! All of them do.'

About two hours later, Espio came back to the infirmary to see the shattered mess all over the floor. "I see you lost your temper in here." He said, grabbing a broom from the closet and sweeping up the mess.

"What's it to you?" Shadow mouthed off.

"I'm not saying anything." Espio said calmly while scooping up the glass and dumping it in the trash can before setting the silver ware in the sink. "However, I will say that it was cruel to make Misuki upset like that. Now she won't talk to anyone."

Shadow became confused at what Espio just said. "Did she run away or something?" he asked, not knowing until late. The words just randomly came out of his mouth, and it had a bit of sympathy in them.

"No, she doesn't run away." Espio answered. "She locks herself in with the Master Emerald. She sits with it, asking it for guidance since she's technically a part of it."

To Shadow, this sounded similar to how Misuki would act on the anniversary of her mother's death; locking herself in her room without eating anything or talking to anyone. "She actually talks to it?" he asked.

"She prays to it, yes. She asks it to help her in her struggles, hoping to hear a response. There have been times when it does respond to her. She'll get random ideas out of nowhere and forget that she was ever sad in the first place." Espio mopped the spilled drops of syrup and tea from the floor before doing anything else. It only took him five minutes to fully clean the area. "Okay, now that that's done, I'll do what I came here to do. Shadow, sit on the edge of the bed for me. Since you're almost recovered, I want to see how well you can stand up."

Shadow followed Espio's instructions, forcing his head completely blank while gently setting his feet on the newly mopped floor. It was still a little wet and cold to the touch, but it didn't bother Shadow in the least because he showed no emotion what so ever.

The first thing Espio did was unwrap Shadow's bandages to show that the wound in his back was almost fully healed. "Your wound has healed quite nicely." He said, observing it closely. "I'll just put some medicine on it and then you can put your shirt back on." He went over to the cabinet to get some of the medicine he put on the wound before, and rubbed a small portion of it over the scar. "This dose should be enough to make the scar completely vanish." After it was thoroughly rubbed into Shadow's skin, and then went to the closet to get Shadow's shirt which was nothing but fishnets with short sleeves. He waited for Shadow to put it on before he began his tests. "Okay, now let's check your limbs. Let me know if you feel any pain." Espio put light pressure on Shadow's right shoulder while moving his arm up and down three times before moving on to the left arm. "Now we're going to try to have you stand up. Just take it easy." Espio stepped back to give Shadow enough room to stand up.

Shadow pushed off the bed and stood on his own with no complications. The first step he took was a bit ruff and wobbly, but he got over it quickly.

"Looks like you can walk just fine." Espio said, proud of Shadow's recovery.

"Then I'm outta here." Shadow grabbed his coat from the closet and walked out of the room with no hesitation.

"Shadow, hang on a minute!" Espio chased after him.

**Misuki:** Misuki had not moved from her spot since she came into the room. She prayed to the Master Emerald with all of her heart that Shadow would come around and listen to what she had to say. 'I miss him. The way he smiled…his laughter…I want it all back.'

"Misuki, you have to come quick! It's an emergency!"

Misuki looked over to see Amy out of breath and panting wildly. "Amy, what's going on? Is everything okay?"

"It's Shadow! He's trying to walk out of here halfway recovered!"

The minute Shadow's name was spoken, Misuki jumped up and ran past Amy out of the door. 'Shadow, you were really determined to go back to Eggman, weren't you?' By the time she got to the living room, Sonic was standing in front of the door to prevent Shadow from leaving.

"Are you really planning to go back to Eggman?" Sonic asked, not moving an inch.

"That's none of your concern." Shadow responded, his temper rising the longer he had to stay there.

Misuki wanted to run up and stop him herself, but something was preventing her to do so. It was as if an invisible shield was put up in front of her to keep her tame until the others resolved this situation. 'What can I do?' she thought to herself. 'I'm afraid to even take a step.'

"I'm not staying here any longer than I have to. Now for the last time, get out of my way!" He charged at Sonic, with strong desire to break free. Sonic met him in the middle, defending himself and blocked his attack. Sonic held his guard until Shadow broke from it, taking a step back. "Why are you refusing to let me go? I thought you couldn't wait to get rid of me."

"We never said that, Shadow." Sonic spoke out.

"I could sense it through the atmosphere. None of you want me here, except for the girl." His eyes stared directly at Misuki, who shivered once she met his.

Espio came up past Vector and Charmy to settle this once and for all. "Shadow, if you really want to leave then challenge me."

Everyone paused when Espio said that and stepped at the front, making sure Shadow had his eyes only on him. 'What is Espio doing?' Misuki thought to herself.

She heard Shadow chuckle as he folded his arms in confidence. "You can't be serious." He said over top of a chuckle. "You want me to fight you?"

"If you think you can, anyway." Espio showed no sign of intimidation at Shadow's comments. He stood perfectly still with one hand resting on his hip.

"He's lost it." Misuki said out loud.

"Tell me about it." Amy replied back. "But this is Espio we're talking about. He has to have something up his sleeve."

"What're you waiting for, Shadow? Come and attack me." Espio gestured his finger towards Shadow as an open invitation to hit him the best he could.

Misuki's heart pounded furiously at what was going to happen. She looked over at Shadow as he cracked his knuckles and then charged at Espio, fists raised high and ready to swing. As he did, Espio quickly got a hold of Shadow's fist, twisted it around until his entire arm was completely behind him and then applied pressure to his back, just above his gunshot wound. The pressure shut down Shadow's nerves and forced him down on his knees as he grunted in pain.

"Shadow, are you okay!" Misuki finally gained the strength to push her body forward and move over to Shadow's side, where she kneeled down to check on him.

"What the…hell did you do?" Shadow strained, finding it difficult to stand up.

"I was trying to tell you that just because you could stand, did not mean you were fully recovered and ready to leave." Espio stood over him with his arms crossed. "You're strength will take some time to return. So you might be here for a while, whether you like it or not."

"Damn you."

"Shadow, let me help you."

Eventually the pain Shadow felt began to vanish and allowed him to stand up. He struggled a little bit, but Misuki helped him the rest of the way. "Get your hands off of me!" Shadow smacked Misuki's hands away from him, causing her to back away. "I can take care of myself."

After he did that, Knuckles went over to Misuki's side. "She was only helping you." He said, defending her.

"Shadow, even if you go back to Eggman, you're not going to have enough strength to fight. Just stay with us until you're one hundred percent healed." Sonic calmly insisted. "We even have an extra room for you. Follow me." Misuki watched Shadow hesitate for a short while before finally following Sonic out of the living room and towards the guest room.

**Shadow:** As they walked down the hall, the air was thick and the tension slowly rose between Sonic and Shadow. Shadow walked far behind Sonic, his hands in his pockets. They soon arrived at a room on the top floor of the house, just two doors down from Misuki's room. His room was in the far corner of the house, with a great view of the neighborhood and city. "Here's your room, Shadow." Sonic let him go in first and look around the room. The bed was against the wall on the opposite side of the door, near the window. In between the wall with the door and the wall with the window, across from the foot of the bed was a two-door walk-in closet. The drawers were next to the door; a spare jacket was hanging over the mirror. "Misuki put spare clothes in the drawers for you. The bathroom is just across the hall to the left. There are towels in the closet. Enjoy your stay, buddy." Sonic closed the door and left Shadow to settle in the room.

'I can't believe I'm here.' He thought to himself, sitting on the bed. That was the only thought that ran in his head about his new environment and situation. What really made Shadow uneasy was the person who sniped him. 'How come I didn't sense his presence? Misuki sensed him. Why couldn't I?'

"You should apologize to Misuki, Shadow." Once again, Shadow was haunted by young Misuki. "What you said really hurt her."

"Why do I care?" he commented back, not moving from his position. "Everything I said, I meant. She's not going to get anything out of being nice to me. So there's no point."

"You're wrong, Shadow." Young Misuki placed a hand on his lap, smiling at him. "You may have hurt her with your words, but she's still happy to have you near her again. All she wants is to re-create the relationship the two of you once had, and she hopes deep within her heart that it will be mended." She took her hand away from Shadow's lap and stepped back as she faded away. "Just try to give her a chance."

A knock came at the door shortly after young Misuki had vanished. "Shadow, I'm coming in." He looked up at the door and watched Misuki slowly enter the room and let the door close behind her. "Sorry for bothering you…but I, just wanted to see how you were doing."

Shadow looked at her face to see that her eyes were still puffy from crying and there were dry tear stains on her cheeks and chin.

"I…wanted to bring you a peace offering." She set down a cloth on top of the drawers. It obviously had food in it by the way it was tied. "These are for you. I hope you like them. I'll…leave you alone now." She closed the door and left the room quietly as if trying to sneak out.

After she left the room, it took Shadow three minutes to get up from the bed and pick up the cloth that was left for him. He unwrapped it to reveal three rice balls made by hand and from scratch. Shadow stared at the rice balls for a while before taking back to the bed and taking a bite out of one of them, eating them slowly. As good as they were, it didn't change the way Shadow thought or felt.


	12. Promise Kept

**Twelve: Promise Kept**

**Misuki:** After she delivered the rice balls to Shadow, Misuki went straight to her room and just stared at the photograph with her, her father and Shadow. Shadow was now under the same roof as her, which meant Misuki had to do everything she could to protect him and keep him away from Eggman.

"Hey Misuki, are you in there?" A knock came at the door, followed by Knuckles' voice.

Misuki wiped the stray tears from her face before allowing him to come in. "Yeah, I'm here. You can come in." The door opened, letting Knuckles come in and sit beside Misuki on her bed. In his hand was a small plate of leftover eggs and bacon.

"I thought I'd bring you some food since you haven't eaten anything yet." He handed the plate to Misuki, hoping she'd eat it.

Misuki let the smell of food enter her nose, not feeling any bit of hunger. She went on and ate it anyway just so Knuckles wouldn't worry about her health. She only ate a small portion of it before handing it back to Knuckles.

Knuckles looked at her curiously as he took the plate back. "You should eat more than that, Misuki. You made Shadow rice balls, but didn't try to make any food for yourself. It's not good for you."

"I'm fine, Knuckles." She said softly, while smiling at him. "You of all people should know that I lose my appetite when I get depressed."

"But still…you should attempt to eat something." He set the plate on the counter, and just sat there beside Misuki.

She chuckled a little while holding her father's bracelet tightly in her hands. "You blame Shadow for my unhappiness…don't you Knuckles?"

Knuckles looked at her with confusion. He pushed his hair out of his face, knowing he couldn't hide the truth from Misuki. He took a deep breath and came out with his confession. "I just don't want anyone or anything to hurt you. Shadow is causing you pain; everyone can see that. You want him to accept you, and it hurts you that he doesn't."

"I can't deny that." Misuki admitted, slowly letting her smile drift away. "Having Shadow here this close to me, has hurt me and made me happy at the same time." She paused to take a deep breath so tears wouldn't fall from her eyes. "But I refuse to turn my back on him. I told Shadow that no matter what he did to me, I'd forgive him…and I meant every word of it. There's good in his heart; good that waits to re-surface and return Shadow to who he truly his."

"And who would that be?" Knuckles asked.

Misuki looked at him and brought his smile back, along with one long tear that ran down her cheek. Her grip on the bracelet tightened, remembering her father's smile and the way she shared similar thoughts as him. "He's my friend; and he always will be. No matter how hard I try, I could never find it in my heart to hate him."

Knuckles wanted to say something, but he stopped himself just as he opened his mouth. "Well, in my opinion…" he wrapped his arm around Misuki, causing her to look at him. "…if you believe he still has good in him, then just keep trying to let it show."

His words made Misuki smile and hug Knuckles as tight as she could. "Thanks Knuckles. You always know what to say to make me feel better." She let go of him, wiping the dry tear stains from her face. She reached over Knuckles to get the plate of food and finish it off. The food was still warm, so the taste was as fresh as the first time it was made. The bacon was a bit burnt and dry, but it didn't faze her in the least bit. "One more thing, Knuckles." She said after swallowing the third bite of eggs and second bite of bacon. "I realized just now that, you and Shadow are somewhat similar to each other."

"We're what?" Knuckles was shocked to hear those words come from Misuki's lips.

Misuki giggled at his expression. "You heard me. I said you two are similar. Both of you care for me, and you're both hot-tempered."

"Hey, I'm not…"

"Also…you both make me smile." Misuki interrupted Knuckles' sentence, and spoke out in a calm voice with a small smile. Misuki finished off the food and gave it to Knuckles to put in the kitchen and wash. The talk they had put confidence in Misuki again, making her get up and get a work-out in the home gym that was in the house.

By the time her work-out was done, it was almost time for her to prepare dinner since she missed lunch worrying about Shadow. 'I'll make something extra special since Shadow will get to eat with everyone. Then I'll make some rice balls to set the mood. But the main course has to be mondo yummy.' Misuki made up her mind to make vegetable and chicken stir fry with miso soup on the side. The entire time she spent cooking, Misuki had a serious look on her face. She was ultimately determined to make this the best-tasting meal they ever had. She even went so far as to use spices she's never used before that just sat in the cabinets doing nothing. When the food was half-way done, she did a quick taste test, and found it was better than she thought it would be. "Everyone, dinner's almost ready. Start heading into the dining room." She made an announcement through her watch, while getting everything ready. Amy and Cream helped set the table while Misuki went to get Shadow. She stood in front of the door and took a deep breath before knocking on the door. "Shadow, it's me. I'm coming in." She came in to see Shadow still sitting on the bed with the cloth lying beside him. "I see you liked my rice balls." He didn't respond to her at all. All he did was stare from the ceiling to her. Misuki swallowed and got to the point. "Anyway, I wanted to tell you that dinner's ready, and it would be good if you came down and ate with us. Will you come?"

They both stared at each other as if sharing a conversation in their heads. Finally, Shadow sat up and walked out of the room with Misuki to the dining room.

Misuki felt a bit of warmth walking next to Shadow. Memories of her holding his hand and walking through her garden flashed through her head and made her smile. 'This is just like back then. I feel safe next to him, even though he's not paying attention to me.' She looked up at Shadow from the corner of her eye, feeling her heart beat faster and faster as they approached the dining room. Misuki sat him in the chair across from her and between Vector and Sonic. "Now that everyone's here, the food can now be served. Amy, do you mind passing out the soup while I get the main course?"

"No problem, Misuki." Amy got out of her seat and followed Misuki to the kitchen to get the food. "Say Misuki, do you think this food will ease the tension between you and Shadow?"

"If the food doesn't, the rice balls will." I answered her with a smile. "I already gave him three earlier today. If those don't work, I don't know what will." They both laughed as they walked out of the kitchen and into the dining room with the food. Amy passed out individual bowls of miso soup around the table, while Misuki set down the stir fry in the center. "I hope you all enjoy this meal. Please dig in." Misuki took everyone's plates one-by-one and filled it with a least two scoops of the stir fry. The last plate she served was her own.

"Wow Misuki, you've really outdone yourself this time!" Tails exclaimed, consuming his meal rapidly. It almost looked like he wasn't swallowing any of it.

"I totally agree! This rocks!" Charmy exclaimed, about to jump out of his chair.

Misuki's face blushed with embarrassment as everyone threw out comments about her cooking. "Thanks everyone. I'm really glad you like it." She took a few sips of her soup while staring across to Shadow, who was quietly eating his food without making eye contact with anyone. By the way he was eating, it looked like he was enjoying the food. 'You're in for a big surprise, Shadow.' The rest of the meal, Misuki wore a smile on her face up to when she took up all the plates and put away the leftovers after everyone was finished.

"Misuki, you said you had a surprise for us." Sonic brought up.

"Yes I do." She giggled, walking back into the kitchen. "Be right back." Misuki grabbed the big plate of rice balls and carried it into the dining room.

Once everyone saw the rice balls, they all awed in excitement. "Alright! Misuki's famous rice balls!" Charmy actually stood up in his chair and jumped a few times before Knuckles grabbed him by the back of his shirt and sat him back down with an annoyed look.

"I thought I'd make some after not eating breakfast and lunch with you guys. Take as many as you want." The second she sat the plate down on the table, everyone rushed in to grab at least two rice balls. Charmy alternated between his rice balls, while everyone else focused on one before moving on to the other.

Shadow took one and slowly ate it with a strange look on his face. His expression was a bit depressed. "Umm…Shadow?" Misuki called his name and waited for him to look up at her. "Was the food to your liking?" She wasn't sure what type of response she'd get by asking that.

He took his time swallowing his bite of rice ball. "You've improved in your cooking a lot." He said softly.

Hearing that from Shadow made butterflies form in Misuki's stomach as her face flushed red. "That means a lot, Shadow. Thank you."

Right after she said that, Shadow stood up, took two more rice balls and walked off. "Don't get the wrong idea." He said before walking out of the room. "My intensions have not changed since being here. Once I leave, I will take you with me…right to Dr. Eggman." He went back to his room, leaving those words to linger in Misuki's mind.

"Misuki, are you…" Sonic was about to ask if Misuki would be alright, when he looked over and saw her face light up with a smile and red cheeks.

She lit up even more when she was in the bath, going through all of her happy memories with her and Shadow. His comment about him taking her to Eggman didn't affect her in the least bit. What mattered to her the most was the fact that he looked happy to eat a meal with her and the others. 'In the end, everything turned out exactly how I wanted.'

"I think we should take Shadow out to the town. Show him there's more to the world than just hate." Misuki brought this up to Sonic, Amy, Cream and Knuckles while making breakfast the next morning. "What do you guys think?"

The four of them looked at one another. "I think that's a great idea." Cream spoke out, stirring the extra pancake batter. "Shadow deserves to have some fun. Maybe if he goes out into the sunshine he'd lighten up."

"That's exactly my plan, Cream." Misuki said, taking the bowl of batter and pouring a small portion of it into the skillet after the fifth batch was made.

"How do we know Shadow will agree to this?" Knuckles asked, drinking a small glass of orange juice.

"He never comes out of his room except for meals." Amy pointed out. "I went to bring him a glass of milk last night, and all he did was stare out the window all depressed. He looked like a dog locked in a cage."

"When Shadow was in my dad's lab, he never got to go out and enjoy the outside world." She explained. "He's spent a lot of time underground, wanting nothing more than to see the sun's light. My dad created an artificial garden room for me and him with light similar to the sun's. It was the only way he could feel like he was outside. I made him a promise; a promise that I would take him outside and show that he's the same as everyone else and no one would look at him like a monster or an experiment. I want to keep that promise to him."

They all saw the small smile on her face as she flipped the pancake and then poured another cup of batter into the same skillet. Finally, Amy came up behind her with eyes sparkling bright. "That's so romantic, Misuki!" Amy grinned ear to ear, as she ran over to Sonic and squeezed his arm lovingly. "We should so double date! You and Shadow with me and Sonic! It'll be the perfect day."

"Hey, what if I want to go?" Knuckles blurted out.

"You'd be a fifth wheel, Knuckles." Amy teased. "If you came with us, you'd ruin the romantic mood."

"What did you say?"

"Help Sonic, Knuckles is scaring me!" Amy hid behind Sonic, holding onto his shirt and slightly trembling.

Sonic exhaled and then said, "Okay, everyone calm down. Honestly, I think getting him out of the house would lighten Shadow up. Knuckles, you're more than welcome to join us."

Amy gave Knuckles an evil glare while making a face at him and sticking her tongue out at him.

After breakfast was done, Misuki went into her room to get ready for the day. She spent over an hour getting ready, counting washing dishes and seeing if anyone else wanted to join them. Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Amy, Cream and Cheese were all going with Misuki to show Shadow a good time.

After everything was taken care of, everyone gathered at the front door. "Is everyone ready?" Sonic asked, just as excited as Misuki was.

Everyone cheered. When they stopped, Shadow entered the room with his hands in his pockets, showing no expression whatsoever.

"Glad you decided to come, Shadow. You are the guest of honor." Sonic said.

"I'm only going just to humor you." He scoffed, staring at Misuki.

Misuki shook off his annoyed look and headed the group out the door. 'I'll fulfill my promise to you, Shadow.' Misuki closed the door behind her and caught up to the group, walking beside Shadow. "Let's have some fun!"

Author's Note: First I want to say that I'm happy that my story is really popular and people like it. And just to say, the mood will get better with time between Misuki and Shadow. Stay tuned for the next edition.


	13. Change

**Thirteen: Change**

**Misuki:** The first thing they did was check out the different shops that they passed down the street. Amy forced Sonic into a few shops to help her pick different dresses. Misuki herself stopped at a few food courts so she could let Shadow sample some of the different foods that New York had to offer. Shadow was satisfied with most of it, and even looked like he was having a good time.

"It's so good to be outside without Egg-butt trying to blast us." Knuckles said.

"You took the words right out of my mouth, dude." Sonic said while fist-pumping Knuckles. "This is so peaceful."

Misuki took in a deep breath, enjoying the peace of the city and the beautiful sky that was above her head. "Misuki, is it okay if we go to the park?" Cream came up beside Misuki while holding Cheese in her arms.

"You know what? That sounds like an awesome idea. Let's head to the park." Cream and Cheese jumped in excitement as they ran ahead to talk to Amy. Misuki looked over at Shadow, who wore an expressionless look on his face as we headed to the park.

"Misuki, come over here for a sec." Knuckles called Misuki over to him. She took one look at Shadow and shot him a smile before running over to Knuckles. "He doesn't look too happy to be here with us. Are you sure this was a good idea?" He leaned in to her and whispered so Shadow wouldn't hear them.

However, Misuki probably knew that Shadow could hear us but was just keeping quiet for the time being. "We've only been out for an hour." She responded back to him in a low voice. "He lightened up when he tasted some of the food. Maybe sitting in the park will set the atmosphere for him, and he'll be able to loosen up and get used to everything. I want him to get used to our company and being with me again before I tell him the truth. I want him to be comfortable and know that we are not a threat to him."

Knuckles shrugged, giving up before he lost. "I'll go with your plan for now. We'll see how he acts at the park."

When we arrived at the park, Cream and Cheese immediately took off and chased each other around trees and up a hill. Amy chased after them, carrying a Frisbee she purchased at a party store. She threw it towards Cream who caught it before it flew too far.

As the rest of the gang had fun in the park, Shadow sat further away by himself, lying in the grass and looking up at the blue sky and white clouds. Misuki couldn't help but stare at him with a depressed look. 'What should I say to him?'

"Why are you over here?" Misuki turned around to see Sonic walk over to her with a smile. He gently nudged her forward. "Go over and talk with him. You said you wanted to keep your promise to him."

As usual, Sonic was right. If she was going to have any chance at bringing Shadow back to his senses, she had to make a move and approach him. "Wish me luck." Misuki took in a deep breath and walked over to Shadow with confidence. She sat down next to him, fixing her hair and just letting the small breeze blow through it. "This is pretty relaxing, isn't it?" she asked. He didn't respond to her. "How does it feel to see pure sunshine without having to fight anyone?"

He looked over at Misuki, who had a small smile on her face while blushing slightly. He stared at her for only a short minute before looking back at the sky. "I can't think clearly." He finally spoke out. Misuki slightly jumped when she heard him speak. "Sitting here like this, my thoughts are running through my mind wildly. I don't know what to think anymore."

"That's a normal feeling." Misuki told him. "When you just relax, it allows your mind to clear; letting all doubts and fears fade away. It's good for you." She rubbed her hand through the grass, savoring the feel of soil and dirt. "Do you remember the artificial garden my father created for us?"

There was a short pause after she asked that. "Vaguely." He answered with no emotion. "It's a memory I'd rather not remember."

'Get rid of it? What about our promise? He probably doesn't remember.'

"However…" he continued. "…being out here like this, does feel pretty good."

Hearing that put warmth in Misuki's heart. She laid back in the grass and stared at the sky with Shadow. The only thing that would make it perfect for her is the two of them held hands. Even without that, it was everything she wanted and more. She didn't want this moment to ever end; it was a moment to cherish forever.

About an hour later, Misuki joined Amy, Cream and Cheese in a game of hide 'n' seek.

**Shadow:** Shadow sat up in the grass and found himself watching Misuki run around the park.

"You doing good, Shadow?" Sonic sat beside Shadow, letting out a breath of air once he did. "I can't remember the last time we took a vacation like this. Nor can I remember Misuki being this happy. It's all thanks to you, Shadow."

"What do you mean?" Shadow asked, looking over at Sonic from the corner of his eye.

Sonic chuckled. "It's because you're here that she's having so much fun. A lot has happened to her since you two separated. We've all helped her cope with it and kept her laughing and smiling." He wore a smile as he watched Misuki enjoy the day with her friends.

Shadow stared back at Misuki, who was now on the ground laughing while Cream was on top of her, laughing along with her. Something inside of him lightened up the longer he stared at her. He watched Misuki put Cream on her shoulders and run around making air plane noises.

Sonic broke Shadow out of his trance by patting him on the back and standing up. "So, you wanna race?" he asked bluntly, jumping up and down.

"Are you serious?" Shadow looked up at him.

"Of course! We're outside with beautiful weather, surrounded by awesome friends. No one wants to sit around in this atmosphere. What do you say?"

Shadow scoffed as he got up and stepped up to Sonic. "You're on." They walked over to the sidewalk and took their positions. Misuki and the others followed them to their starting point.

"Okay Shadow, first one to make one lap around the trail wins."

"Well then…I'll be waiting for you." Shadow chuckled.

Misuki put Cream down and faced the two of them to start the race. "Get ready guys!" She raised her hand in the air and looked at both of them. "Get set…GO!" The second her hand went down, Sonic and Shadow sped past her and onto the trail.

Everything they passed was a big blur as they ran passed endless trees, a playground and a bunch of people enjoying the sunshine. A gust of wind was all they left behind them. Sonic got ahead the first few feet, but Shadow caught up with him thirty seconds later.

"Wow Shadow, you're actually making this difficult." Sonic said, staying in a dead tie with Shadow.

"I could say the same thing to you." Shadow replied back. "But I refuse to lose to an amateur like you. Farewell, Sonic." He was only able to get ahead of Sonic by a few inches because he was still weak from his recovery process. But his stubbornness wasn't going to let him give up. He pushed his body forward once he saw the finish line. He was close in finishing when Sonic came up behind him and crossed the finish line with him.

They both came to a grinding halt after finishing and then walked back to the gang to see who won. "Did anyone see who crossed first?" Sonic asked.

"It was a close call." Tails stepped up, holding a camera in his hand. He had taken a snapshot of the race and closely examined it. "Sorry Sonic, but Shadow crossed the finish line by a nose. I declare Shadow the winner!"

Everyone cheered while gathering around Shadow. "Congratulations, Shadow!" Misuki ran up to Shadow and hugged him in excitement. He looked down at her, a bit freaked out over the sudden grab. When she realized what she was doing, she quickly released him and turned away from him with her face flushing bright red. "I, uh…ahem…good job, Shadow." Her words jumbled together to where it was almost inaudible. "Hey I know, how about I get you a treat as a prize? Do you want something too, Sonic?" she asked.

"Nah I'm good." He answered. "I brought some water with me."

"Okay, I'll be right back." Misuki ran off to a stand that was selling ice cream and drinks.

"Hey Misuki, wait for us!" Amy, Cream and Cheese followed after Misuki so they could get something too.

Sonic walked up to Shadow, resting his arm on Shadow's shoulder while giggling. "You're a lucky guy, buddy. Misuki's getting something special for you with her own money. I'd cherish this moment if I were you."

Shadow remained silent, nudging Sonic off of his shoulder.

About three minutes later, Amy, Cream and Cheese came back out of breath and in a panic. "Sonic, Shadow, come quick! It's an emergency!" Amy ran right into Sonic's arms, shaken up.

Sonic held Amy by the shoulders, trying to calm her down. "Amy, what's going on? And where's Misuki?"

"These guys came up and circled us. Misuki fought them off long enough for us to escape, but she couldn't save herself." Cream answered for Amy, her face just as blue.

Without hesitation, Shadow took off towards the stand, locked onto Misuki's presence.

**Misuki:** "For the last time, get the hell off me you creeps!" Misuki struggled to break free from their grasp as two of the guys held her arms while chuckling. "You are so getting your asses kicked when I get free."

The leader of the thugs walked up to her with a creepy smile, lifting her chin. "You are just full of spunk, aren't ya cutie? Might wanna save some of that for later if you know what I mean." He and his guys laughed at the joke he made.

"Someone please help me!" Misuki screamed in fear.

The leader released Misuki's chin and ran his hand down her neck and onto her chest. Before he got too close to her breasts, his hand was quickly lifted up with force. "I suggest you keep your hands to yourself…if you don't want to lose it."

Misuki was relieved to see Shadow come to her rescue.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" he asked, trying to take his hand back. The more he tried to break free, the tighter Shadow gripped his wrist.

Shadow pulled the leader towards him and quickly kneed him in the chest and then released him, watching him go down to the ground, moaning in pain.

"You'll pay for that, you bastard!" The two guys who held Misuki released her and went to gang up on Shadow. They threw punches and kicks at him, but never landed a single blow on him. Shadow grabbed one of the guys by his neck and slammed him into a tree, knocking him out cold.

As for the other guy, he tried to sneak up on Shadow, but Misuki struck the back of his head with amazing force and made him collapse by her feet. "That'll teach you, you jerks." She brushed her hands and turned to see the leader quickly grab her and hold a pocket knife to her throat. "Shadow, help!" Her body froze at the cold blade barely touching her skin.

"Listen buddy, you're going to get on your knees and apologize to me. And then you're going to walk away and pretend we never met. Or else this cutie is going to be a bloody mess."

Shadow wasn't fazed by his threat. He took one step towards them and then vanished from their sights.

The leader began to shake and panic, not knowing where Shadow might be. The next thing he knew, his hand was gripped from behind and lifted off of Misuki's throat. Misuki was able to break his grasp and free herself while Shadow forced the knife out of his hand. "Looks like you're not as tough as you say you are." Shadow growled. "Now listen closely. I'll keep your arm in one piece, as long as you get out of here and I never see your ugly mug around here again. Do we understand each other?"

The guy laughed at Shadow, trying to break free. "You asshole!" He managed to break his other hand free and try to strike Shadow in the face. Shadow caught it, twisted both of his hands around until they cracked and he screamed in agony. Shadow released him and let him squirm on the ground with tears falling from his eyes. "Damn you! You'll pay for this!"

"I've had enough of you." Shadow lifted him to his feet and then punched him in the face and knocked him out. "Are you alright, Misuki?" he asked her.

Misuki nodded while rubbing her throat. "I'm fine. You saved me Shadow. Thank you."

Shadow looked at Misuki, and then faced away from her. "Jerks like them don't deserve to live." He responded. "We better get back to the others before they start to worry."

Misuki took two steps when she found that her body was still shaking.

"What's taking so long?" Shadow stopped and went back to check on her.

"I…I'm still shaken up from all of this." She answered, trying to steady her heartbeat. "My body won't stop…trembling." Just as she finished her sentence, Shadow took her hand and held it in his. Misuki's heart jumped into her throat and back down to her chest.

"Just hold onto me." He said, leading her back to the others.

'This can't be happening.' She thought to herself. 'I'm actually holding Shadow's hand again. It's just as warm as I remembered.'

When they got back to the gang, everyone ran up to Misuki with relief to see her safe. "Thank God you're okay, Misuki." Sonic was the first one to hug her once she and Shadow let go of each other's hands. "We were worried about you."

She hugged him back, her heart still pounding like crazy from the feel of Shadow's hand. "I'm sorry for worrying you guys." She apologized.

"It's not your fault." He assured her.

"Yeah, we're just glad that you're safe." Knuckles said.

"It was thanks to Shadow. If he didn't come when he did, those jerks would've gotten what they wanted from me." Misuki looked at Shadow and smiled. "Now I really have to treat you to something. Let's go." She took his hand again and pulled him down the path and out of the park. Misuki took them to an ice cream parlor that she and her father would go to when she was two. Shadow was actually enjoying himself with Misuki and the others.


	14. Together at Last

**Fourteen: Together at Last**

**Misuki:** The ice cream shop was just a few blocks away from the park, so they didn't walk very far. It wasn't that crowded, so they were able to get in the line and immediately place their orders. Sonic and Amy got a strawberry-vanilla ice cream. She got sprinkles on hers while Sonic got chocolate chips. Knuckles got two scoops of mint ice cream, covered with chocolate syrup. Tails got two scoops of chocolate ice cream with noting on it. Cream got two scoops of vanilla ice cream with gummy bears as a topping. Misuki ordered a strawberry ice cream for her and a chocolate ice cream for Shadow; his request.

They ate inside the parlor, sitting at individual tables. Amy, Cream, Cheese and Sonic ate at one table, while Tails and Knuckles sat at another. Of course Misuki and Shadow shared a table together. All of the tables were close together and were against the window.

"How is it, Shadow?" Misuki asked him after eating a scoop of her ice cream.

Shadow ate a little bit of his before answering. "It's good." He answered. "Somehow…I feel like I've been here before. This flavor...it's not new to me."

Misuki smiled at him, knowing that he had no memory of this place. "You came to New York with me and my father while I was on break from school." She explained, taking another bite of her ice cream. "It was the first and only time you saw the house. My father allowed you to take me out in the town, and we came to this ice cream shop. I ordered a strawberry ice cream cone while you ordered chocolate. You enjoyed every minute we were here, since you never got to go outside."

"Unfortunately, I don't recall any of that." He said, eating more of his ice cream.

He continued to eat his ice cream with a slight bit of sadness. Misuki then remembered another thing they did while eating ice cream. "Here, try some of mine." She took a big scoop of her ice cream and held it up to Shadow.

He looked at her with confusion. "What are you doing?"

"Letting you taste some of my ice cream. When we were here, you took a spoonful of mine and tasted it. Then I ate some of yours. So scoop some of your into your spoon."

Shadow did what Misuki told him and scooped up some of his ice cream. After he did, he held it in the air like Misuki was doing.

Misuki giggled at the face he made. She felt like a teacher teaching a little child to write. "Okay, now you feed me your portion while I feed you mine. Ready…now!" Misuki leaned in and ate the chocolate ice cream from Shadow's spoon while he did the same with her strawberry ice cream. They both released each other's spoons at the same time. Misuki's face blushed at the flavor of chocolate filled her mouth. "Well, how do you like it?" She asked, done with her portion.

"Strawberry is pretty tasty." He confessed, wearing a small smile on his face.

"I told you!" she laughed. When she swallowed the ice cream, her head began to pound in agony. "Oh crap!" She squeezed her head, and grunted through the pain.

"Misuki, what's wrong!" Shadow got up to check on her. "Is it a Chaos Emerald?" he asked.

Later on, Misuki slowly inhaled and exhaled, relaxing her body. Finally she looked up at Shadow and giggled. "I'm fine, Shadow." She assured him. "It's just a brain freeze. I ate too much ice cream at once, freezing my brain: brain freeze." She laughed at her failed scientific explanation of a brain freeze. Everyone else laughed along with Misuki, while Shadow sat back down with a small smile and finished eating his ice cream.

They got back to the house around seven 'o' clock after doing more shopping and picking up Chinese take-out for dinner. Instead of eating in the dining room, everyone ate in the living room just talking and laughing. Shadow, Misuki, Amy and Sonic all sat on the couch, eating their food.

"This was a fun day." Amy said, drinking some of her soda they got from a store.

"I agree." Misuki said. "The rest of you should've joined us."

"I'm sorry. I was going through your father's books." Espio said, after swallowing some food. "I might join you next time."

"What is this stuff again?" Shadow asked, playing with some noodles.

"That's lo-mein. It's really tasty." Misuki answered.

Shadow twirled some of it on his fork and ate it with a satisfying look on his face.

When dinner was done, Sonic and Shadow put the leftovers in the fridge while Misuki, Amy and Tails cleaned up the living room. Amy said good night while carrying Cream to their room.

Misuki met Sonic and Shadow in the kitchen. "This was the best fun I've ever had…apart from the thugs of course."

"I'm glad you had a good time." Sonic said. "What about you Shadow? Did you enjoy yourself?"

They both waited anxiously for a response from Shadow. Finally he nodded. "Yeah…I did."

**Shadow:** "Well, I'm going to take a shower and head to bed. Night guys." Misuki waved at them as she left the kitchen.

"See you in the morning." Sonic said back as she walked through the doors.

Shadow stood there staring at the doors, replaying the day in his mind and re-thinking his choices. He felt his heart pound rapidly every time he saw Misuki's smile. Without saying anything, he walked out of the kitchen and up to his room. When he got to his room and closed the door, his head pounded uncontrollably, causing his to collapse to the ground and groan in pain. This went on for five minutes; after that, he panted while sweat rand down his face. He stayed on the ground for a little while longer on his back, staring at the ceiling. 'I still have a mission to complete.' He thought as he regained control of his breathing. 'But…why don't I have the strength to see it through?'

That night, all Shadow could think about in his sleep is Misuki. He thought about most of the past he remembered with her and how she and him really were close friends. He also looked back and found that Misuki had strong feelings for him that ran deep. This explained why she'd go to great risks to protect him. These thoughts eased Shadow in his sleep, and at the same time made him restless.

In the morning, Shadow joined everyone for breakfast with unease in his eyes.

"You okay, Shadow?" Sonic asked him. "You don't look so well."

"I'm fine. I just had a hard time falling asleep." He admitted, scratching the back of his head.

Misuki sat down a hot cup of coffee in front of Shadow. He looked up at her and saw that same smile she always wore. "I thought some coffee would brighten you up a bit." She said. "The breakfast is coming out next." She left the dining room to get the food, leaving Shadow to his thoughts.

'Whenever she smiles like that…I can't think straight.' Five minutes later, breakfast was served, and everyone was chowing down.

After breakfast was done, Shadow locked himself in his room, and did his best to get Misuki's smile out of his head. It ran deep so deep in his mind, that it clouded his mind and pushed everything out. A voice echoed in his head, reminding him of the pain she caused him and how she abandoned him after G.U.N. shut down the lab.

"Shadow, is everything okay?" A knock came at the door, followed by Misuki's voice.

He hesitated for a moment before answering. "I'm fine. I…just want to be alone." He wanted to get up and open the door, but he decided to remain seated on his bed.

"But Shadow…we have a surprise for you. Please come out." She pleaded for him to open the door.

Shadow could see the disappointed look on Misuki's face through the closed door. Her emotions came through the door and hit Shadow right in the face to where he forced himself to stand up and open the door. "What's this surprise?" he asked.

Misuki took his hand and led him to the living room with a cheerful smile on her face. When they got to the living room, Shadow saw balloons and a giant banner that said, 'WELCOME' in big red letters.

"What's all this?" Shadow asked, looking confused.

"What does it look like?" Knuckles joked. "It's your welcome to the group party."

"WELCOME TO THE GROUP, SHADOW!" Everyone cheered together, clapping.

Sonic walked towards him, and wrapped his arm around Shadow's shoulders. "Congrats, Shadow! You're officially one of us! Great to have you onboard, pal."

"It was my idea." Misuki stepped up with a small box in her hands. "I figured since you've been with us for a while, we should throw you a party to show that we enjoy having you with us, and we want you to be a part of it. Also…this is a present from all of us." She handed Shadow the gift, waiting for him to open it.

Shadow stared at the present while taking a seat on the couch. He slowly ripped the wrapping paper off the box and opened it to reveal a brand new pistol. It was made of pure steel, with his name engraved on the side. "Where did you get this?" he asked, actually surprised at his gift.

"I made it." Tails stepped up with a proud look on her face. "It wasn't easy, but I think I did a pretty good job. Espio also helped me with the engraving and the material. Do you like it?"

Everyone waited anxiously for Shadow to answer. He held the gun in his hand and stared at his name while feeling the cold steel and getting used to holding it in his hands. He then looked up at Misuki, deciding whether to trust her or just call her a phony and take off. His doubts did run deep, but he chose to ignore them. "I…don't know what to say. Thank you." He finally said with a small smile.

Misuki and the others cheered in joy. They all sat around in the living room and just hung around each other, talking and laughing.

In the middle of it, something happened to where Shadow collapsed to the ground, grunting and groaning in pain while grasping his head.

"Shadow, are you okay? What's wrong? Shadow!" He felt Misuki hover over him, trying to roll him over on his back. "Shadow, tell me what's wrong!"

**Misuki:** "Hang in there, Shadow!" Misuki began showing signs of tears falling from her eyes. "Espio, can you do anything for him?" She turned to Espio, who was knelt down right beside her.

"I'm afraid I can't" He admitted. "This isn't normal behavior. I can't pinpoint the cause."

Shadow's screams began to scare Misuki to where she couldn't stop shaking. She wished she could take all his pain away.

An explosion shook the house, while debris flew towards everyone and left a giant hole in the wall. "What's going on!" Sonic asked, shielding himself, Amy and Cream.

Misuki used her entire body to shield Shadow from the debris.

"So, this is where you are." A voice came from underneath the smoke. They all looked to see a tall woman with skin about three shades lighter than Misuki's, with light blue eye liner, long eyelashes and bright pink lipstick. Her wardrobe was a halter top in the shape of a heart that showed some cleavage from her big breasts and black latex leggings with tall white boots that went to her knees. The tips of her boots had pink hearts the same shade as her top. "I came for you…Shadow."

'She's here…for Shadow?' Misuki's heart stopped the moment she heard those words. She kept a hand on Shadow, who had calmed down a slight bit, and was only panting uncontrollably while continuing to hold his head.

"What do you mean you're here for Shadow?" Knuckles asked, standing behind Sonic, Amy and Cream. "Just who the hell are you?"

The woman chuckled while staring at Knuckles. "My, my, guess I made a bad impression. As for my name, you can call me Rouge. The doctor sent me to retrieve Shadow. It didn't cross his mind that he'd be here." She looked over to see Shadow curled into a ball, twitching every now and then. "Looks like I came just in time."

She walked towards him until Misuki intercepted her, throwing a punch at Rouge. The punch didn't make contact, because Rouge jumped back to her original position. "You won't touch him." Misuki growled, as tears of rage fell down her face. "I won't have Shadow taken away from me again. I'll protect him." The way she spoke was as if she was possessed. She lunged at Rouge, landing endless blows on her. Her eyes were blinded with rage as her past flashed before her eyes. 'I just found Shadow…I'm not going to give him up. I'll fight for him until the very end.' Before she knew it, Misuki had Rouge on the ground, panting and bleeding.

"I…wasn't expecting this." Rouge wheezed out, wiping the blood from her face. "Eggman said you were strong…but I didn't think this strong."

"I'll eliminate you and Eggman." Misuki growled, clenching her fists until they started bleeding. "I'll eliminate anything that threatens Shadow."

Misuki's fists began glowing a brilliant red from the Chaos Emerald's power, and was about to deliver the final blow. But…everything became a giant blur around her as Shadow rushed in and punched her straight in the stomach. "Sh…Shadow…"

The last thing she heard him say was, "I'm sorry. But this charade ends now."

With those words left to linger in her mind, Misuki blacked out.

She woke up about an hour later in a daze.

"Misuki, are you okay?" Knuckles asked, leaning over her.

She groaned as she looked around the room to see everyone standing in the room. It took her a few minutes to realize she was in her own bed. "What's…going on?" she wheezed out.

"You blacked out after Shadow punched you in the stomach." Knuckles answered.

Hearing Shadow's name made Misuki jump up in shock and gasp. "Shadow, is he okay? Where is he!"

"Misuki, relax!" Sonic held her by the shoulders, making sure she didn't try to get out of bed.

"Where's Shadow?" She asked again while tears ran down her face. "Did he…"

Sonic nodded his head in disappointment. "I'm afraid he did, Misuki. I'm sorry."

_'This charade…ends now.'_ Those words echoed through Misuki's head as her tears began to flow heavier, thinking of how she lost Shadow after getting him back. 'Why Shadow? Why?'

**Shadow:** "Doctor, look who I brought." Rouge said in a sing-song voice, presenting Shadow.

"Shadow, it's so good to see you!" Eggman said in an enthusiastic voice. "When you didn't respond to my messages, I began to worry. So I hired Rouge to retrieve you."

Shadow remained silent, continuing to look down at his feet. He kept his left hand on the gun Misuki and the others got him.

"Why so silent, Shadow? You don't look so well."

Shadow let out a breath before saying, "I'm just tired. I'm going to go take a nap." He walked out of the room, still looking at his feet. He didn't believe that Eggman was happy that he returned; his attitude was completely fake. But…he wasn't sure why he suddenly thought about that. Later on, he stopped thinking about it.

"You broke her heart." Young Misuki appeared in front of Shadow, right in front of his room. "She gave you a gift from her heart, and you betrayed her."

Shadow remained silent and walked through her, entering his room and closing the door.

"It's not too late, Shadow." She walked through the door, with a concerned look on her face. "Misuki's sinking into the darkness because you're not with her. Only you can free her."

He ignored her, turning his back on her until her presence vanished five minutes later. When she was gone, Shadow closed his eyes, actually thinking about how happy Misuki was when he was with her, and how she's acting now since he left. 'Are her feelings real? Or is it all just a game?'


	15. ReLiving the Past

**Fifteen: Re-Living the Past**

Author's Note: Hey, I'm not sure how many people get confused with flashback scenes, like identifying them, but if you're confused they will be in italics Sorry for any confusion. If I get enough comments, I might go ahead and revise the whole story. Please R & R. Pretty please ^w^ Thanks.

**Knuckles:** "Hey, Knuckles." Tails caught Knuckles just after he closed the door to Misuki's room. Knuckles walked up to him, remaining silent out of concern for Misuki. "How'd it go in there?"

Knuckles looked back at Misuki's door and then let out a sigh. "She's really broken down because of this situation." Knuckles answered in a soft tone. "I brought her a plate of strawberries, but she wouldn't eat any. I just left them in there for her in case she changes her mind."

"Well that's a good thing." Tails said.

Knuckles was so focused on Misuki's condition, that he didn't realize the medium-sized trash bag he was carrying. "You're helping clean up the living room?"

"Yeah, along with Espio, Sonic and Vector." Tails answered. "I gotta get back to work. I'll see ya around, Knuckles." Tails continued on down the hall, leaving Knuckles to his thoughts.

After standing in the hall by himself for a few minutes, Knuckles went to the gym to work out his frustration. Everything he hit…became Shadow. Those images caused his rage to intensify by one hundred, making his work out harder on him and his body. He had more sweat running down his face than before. The gloves he used began to wear out. When he took them off, his fists were bleeding; mixing with the sweat that fell into the newly opened wounds. The pain didn't faze him because it was all worth it to get revenge on Shadow and bring back Misuki's happiness. 'He doesn't deserve her.' While Knuckles wrapped his hands in bandages, he began to remember the day he first met Misuki. At that time, she was fourteen-years of age.

_Knuckles was lying in his bed staring into space when Tails ran into the room in excitement. "Hey Knuckles, Sonic's back!" Tails sent out a message to Knuckles' room. "He wants all of us to gather in the cockpit. Hurry up!"_

_ Knuckles got up from his bed and headed to the cockpit with the others. When he joined the gang, he saw Sonic standing next to a dark-skinned girl with short purple hair and eyes filled with tears. She had a towel around her because she was soaked from the rain. "Who's she?" Knuckles asked, not able to take his eyes off her._

_ "Guys, I'd like you to meet our new friend…Misuki." Sonic introduced her with a small smile. "She'll be staying with us. So make her comfortable and be friends with her."_

_ "I thought we weren't going to bring innocent people in our group, Sonic." Knuckles spoke out. "We don't need Eggman to hurt someone like her."_

_ "That's just it, Knuckles; she's after Eggman as well."_

_ When he heard this, Knuckles stared at the girl's blank eyes. He also noticed that her fists were clenched and shaking from rage at the sound of Eggman's name._

_ "I'm going to show her to her room, and then let her take a shower before she catches a cold." Sonic lead Misuki out of the cockpit while Knuckles continued staring at them until they vanished. _

_ The next day, Knuckles was in the work-out room going through his normal training routine. He couldn't get Misuki out of his head for some reason. He couldn't identify it, but there was something about her that caught his eye. During his work-out, Sonic walked in, still wearing his pajamas past noon._

_ He stood a good distance behind Knuckles so he wouldn't get hit by accident. "Hey Knuckles, have you seen Misuki?" _

_ Knuckles stopped his work-out and looked back at Sonic with a surprised look. "Was she not in her room?" Knuckles asked._

_ "No. I went to see if she wanted me to bring her any food, but she wasn't in her room. Tails and I looked everywhere, but there's no sign of her."_

_ "You think she ran off somewhere without anyone spotting her?" Knuckles asked._

_ "That might be a possibility." Sonic said. "We better find her before something happens to her." Knuckles followed Sonic out of the gym and out of the ship to find where Misuki might've ran off to. They looked throughout the town and even outside the town; she was nowhere to be found. _

_ Sonic and Knuckles searched for two hours looking for Misuki until Knuckles returned back to the ship and looked more thoroughly to see if she had returned. 'Where could that girl be?' It was then that he felt the Master Emerald releasing small energy waves. 'Why is the Master Emerald acting up?' He went to the control room, where the Master Emerald was stored safely, and noticed that Misuki was sitting before it on her knees, praying to it. "So this is where you've been hiding." _

_ Misuki looked up to see Knuckles staring at her with a relieved look._

_ "You know we've been looking everywhere for you. I guess they didn't bother to check here." Knuckles jumped down from the pillar he was standing on and stood in front of Misuki. "What are you doing here?"_

_ Misuki looked back at the Master Emerald and placed a hand on it. "I was…asking for guidance." She said in a shy tone._

_ "Guidance?" _

_ She nodded her head while looking back at Knuckles. "I was scared of this place. It told me that you all were nice, and would treat me like family."_

_ "You spoke to the Master Emerald?" Knuckles asked in disbelief. "But…how can you understand it?"_

_ Misuki held out her palm and released what seemed like pure energy. It took the form of the red Chaos Emerald. Knuckles stepped back, not sure what to make of this. "I have a Chaos Emerald inside of me." She admitted. "There was an accident while my father was researching it. Eggman broke in and tried to steal it. I managed to grab it before he could get it. But…because of my strong emotions…my body absorbed it."_

_ Knuckles stared at her in shock. "I had no idea."_

_ "Eggman's been after me ever since. He wants to absorb the Chaos Emerald's power from my body and use it for his evil purposes. But I'll never let him have it." She clenched her fist, making the energy disappear from her hand._

_ He stared at her, amazed by her strong will. "Well, you're no longer alone." He told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We'll help you take down Eggman. If he wants to hurt you, he's gotta go through us first."_

_ "You got that right, Knuckles!" _

_ Knuckles and Misuki looked up to see Sonic and Tails standing on the platform above them, with smiles on their faces._

_ "You're one of us, Misuki!" Tails exclaimed. "We won't let Eggman hurt our friend!"_

_ "Tails is right! You mess with one of us; you mess with all of us!" Sonic added, holding a thumbs up._

_ Misuki looked up with tear-filled eyes. "Thank you." She wiped away all of her tears and let her confidence rise from her. "We'll beat Eggman, and stop his evil!"_

'From that day, I swore I'd never let her shed another tear again. But thanks to Shadow…she's shed many.'

"I knew I'd find you in here." Sonic came up behind him and took a seat next to him on the bench. "You doing okay?" he asked.

Knuckles sighed while running his fingers through his hair. "I'm infuriated. One minute Shadow hangs with us, happy to be a part of our group, then all of a sudden he goes back to Eggman because of some bitch that intrudes into our home. If he really cared about Misuki, he would've helped Misuki take that woman down for good." The more Knuckles talked about it, the angrier he got.

"I understand how you feel, buddy." Sonic said, trying to comfort Knuckles. "I think everyone's upset about what went down. We just need to stick together and be there for Misuki when she needs us."

"Misuki being upset like this gets to me. Sonic…I really do care for Misuki."

"We all care for Misuki." He said, placing a hand on Knuckles' shoulder. "But when you say you care for her, I know it means a lot more than just being her friend; you're in love with her."

Knuckles smiled after Sonic said that, picturing the image of Misuki when she's happy. "From the very first time I saw her, I knew she was the one. I wanted to be there for her; I wanted to be her shield, her sword…her everything. But, she loves Shadow. I don't have a chance with her. Still, that doesn't mean I won't do my best to protect her." Talking to Sonic made him feel a little better, and helped him clear his mind. When they finished talking, Sonic took Knuckles to his room to play some video games to help him clear his mind more.

**Misuki:** Head buried in her arms and legs. Tears falling down her face, leaving stains on her cheeks and blankets. She was left alone to think about her past and her choices. 'I can't keep doing this.' Misuki thought to herself, slowly lifting her head out of her arms while wiping away the tears. 'Sitting in my room and crying isn't going to bring Shadow back to me. I have to face him again and make him listen to me. I'm not weak. Nor am I a quitter. It's time for me to stop feeling sorry for myself and take action.' She rose out of her bed and looked at her picture that was next to her bed. "I'll bring Shadow back, father. I won't give up." She jumped out of the bed and stretched as she smiled.

She looked over at the might stand and saw the plate of strawberries Knuckles left for her. She wasn't all that hungry, so the strawberries would hold her off for a while. After she finished them, she took the plate to the kitchen and put it in the dishwasher.

"Misuki?"

Misuki looked behind her to see Tails and Espio standing behind her. "Oh, hey guys. What are you doing?" she asked, closing the dishwasher.

They looked at her with blank faces. "We just got done repairing the house and cleaning up the mess in the living room." Espio answered.

"Has anyone eaten yet?" Misuki asked.

"I don't think so." Tails said, thinking about it. "But Amy and Cream did heat up some leftovers from last night. Vector and Charmy went out to get something for the two of them."

"And you two?"

"I was about to prepare something, unless you were about to cook."

Misuki shook her head. "I had some strawberries Knuckles left me, and that filled me up. I'm not all that hungry. Go ahead and make anything you like." Mentioning Knuckles reminded her of him. "How's Knuckles doing? Do you if he's eaten anything?"

"I'm not sure." Tails said. "Last time I talked to him, he just left your room and was headed to the gym. He might be there. Come to think of it, I'm not sure if Sonic's eaten anything."

Misuki thought about it, looking through the fridge to see what she could heat up for Knuckles and Sonic. She saw some leftover chicken stir fry and rice. She pulled the two pots out and scooped out an even portion of each on two plates and then put them in the microwave one at a time. "I'll take these to them. Later guys." She left the kitchen and went straight to the gym to find Knuckles. Unfortunately, he wasn't there and neither was Sonic. "Hmm, I bet they're in one of their rooms." She went upstairs and stopped at Sonic's room. Sure enough, as she approached the door, she heard voices coming from inside. Misuki opened the door to find the Sonic and Knuckles playing a video game. "Here's where you two are." She said, walking into the room.

Knuckles paused the game, surprised to see Misuki. "Misuki, how long have you been out?" he asked.

"Just a few minutes. I did eat those strawberries you left, so thank you. I wasn't sure if you two had eaten anything, so I thought I'd bring you something. It's the leftover chicken stir fry with a side of rice."

"Thanks Misuki." Sonic said, taking one of the plates and eating the microwaved leftovers.

"Here Knuckles, eat up." Misuki handed Knuckles his plate before sitting down in between them on the bed.

Knuckles looked at her with slight confusion. "Umm…Misuki?"

Misuki looked over at Knuckles. "What is it?"

"I was just wondering…are you feeling okay?"

Misuki smiled at him. "I'm fine, Knuckles." She answered him. "I finally decided that I have to stop running to my room every time something bad happens, or things don't go my way. Instead of crying over spilled milk, I have to pick myself up and take action. If Shadow's been manipulated into leaving, then I have to chase him and bring him back at any cost. Starting today, I'm a new Misuki." She gave the two of them a big smile, showing brand new confidence she found in herself.

"That's the spirit, Misuki." Sonic said, wiping his mouth of sauce from the chicken. "And we'll be with you all the way."

"Hey, I just got a great idea!" Misuki jumped off the bed and faced Sonic and Knuckles. "How about the three of us go out on the town? I just got into a mood to shop. How about it?"

"I'll come with you." Knuckles said after swallowing a spoonful of food. "I kind of want to get out of the house anyway. Are you in, Sonic?"

"I'd love to, but I was going to go for a run after I finished eating. You two go on ahead without me."

"Then it's settled." Misuki went to her room to get ready to go out while Knuckles finished eating his food. After she got her purse, Misuki went down into the kitchen and waited for Knuckles. He came an hour and a half later with Sonic and put their plates and spoons in the dishwasher. "Ready to go, Knuckles?" she asked.

Knuckles nodded and followed her out the door. When they left the neighborhood, they stood on the sidewalk, looking around and figuring out where to start. "So, where do you want to go first?" he asked her.

She looked around for a while to decide. "Let's stop at the book store. I want to see if there are any new releases out." They proceeded down the sidewalk, and crossed the street while the light was still blinking. A few blocks away, they reached the bookstore and went inside. Misuki looked through every section, looking closely at all the titles they had on the shelves. She skimmed a few books to see what they were about and then put them back on the shelf. The one she decided to get was a book about a witch leading an army to fight ogres who wanted to rule over the land. "I think I'll get this one." She and Knuckles walked over to the front desk to make their purchase. After she paid for the book, they headed out to go off to their next stop. "Let's take the subway." Misuki suggested. "There are better shopping places on the other side of town."

They went down into the subway, which was just a few blocks from the bookstore. They sat down and waited for the next train to come by. "Hey Misuki?"

"What is it, Knuckles?" Misuki turned to face Knuckles.

"Well…I'm just curious. Do you think your life would've been different if you didn't have the Chaos Emerald in you?"

It was a random thing for Knuckles to bring up, but it actually got Misuki thinking hard about it. Inside, she's been wondering the same thing for about two years. "Honestly, I don't think so." She admitted. "I mean, I would've still been friends with Shadow and I still would've met you all. The only different would be that Eggman wouldn't be after me. He'd just try to destroy me. But I'd still be fighting to get Shadow back."

"Did your dad try to get the Emerald out of you?" Knuckles asked.

"Yes. He tried many times, but each time he did caused me pain. He'd spend hours of everyday trying to find a way to get it out of me without causing me any pain. But in the end, there was nothing he could do." Thinking back on it, Misuki began feeling the terror she felt after the Emerald had fused with her. Every day she thought she would die. Her father then reassured her that she was going to be okay, and that it wasn't going to kill her in any way. "But…when the Emerald's power released from me a year later, I really became concerned. The power burned my entire body, and was completely unstable. But soon enough, I embraced it. It was sometime after G.U.N. attacked us."

A short time later, the train finally arrived. They waited for the passengers to get out of the train before they boarded. They took a seat parallel to the doors and sat there until all the passengers boarded. "Please step away from the doors while they are closing." The voice said as the doors quickly shut. The train then took off into the blackness that was the subway.


	16. Exposed

**Sixteen: Exposed **

**Misuki:** While on the train, Misuki thought about all the possible places she could look to find Shadow once they got the opportunity. 'There are so many places to hide in a place like this.' She thought, staring out the window with a blank expression. 'Eggman's no push-over when it comes to hiding his base. Shadow…hold on for a little longer. I'll come for you soon.'

"Misuki, is everything okay?" Knuckles asked, noticing her expression. He looked at her with a small smile.

She looked back at him and nodded, "I'm fine. Just thinking about some stuff." She admitted. "Honestly, I'm thinking about where we can look to find Eggman's base."

Knuckles let out a sigh as the thought entered his mind as well. "If he still has a Chaos Emerald, you'd be able to sense it if we were close enough."

"You're right. But as many places as we've been, I haven't picked up a single trace of the Chaos Emerald." She was quiet until they arrived at their destination. When the train came to a complete stop, Misuki jumped out of her seat and faced Knuckles. "Well…until we find a clue, let's just unwind and have some fun." Her smile got Knuckles out of his seat and followed her out of the train. The district they were in was so much different than where they lived. There were more shops, restaurants, and they were only a few blocks away from China Town. That was their first stop. Misuki took Knuckles to China Town, where she spent two hours looking through different silk dresses, accessories and shoes. "Oh this one's beautiful!" She eventually found a Chinese dress that was red with flower designs on it. She went to a dressing room to try it on. "I'll be out in a bit, Knuckles." She said to him as she entered and began to take off her clothes. A short time later, Misuki came out with the dress on, and a bright smile on her face. "What do you think, Knuckles?" she asked, twirling around.

Knuckles stared with his jaw down to his chest, and face as bright as his hair. "That dress looks amazing on you, Misuki! You should totally get it." He commented, trying to clear his face of blush.

Misuki giggled as she went back into the changing room and proceeded to take the dress off. As she was about to pull it off, the room began to fill with smoke and make her vision blurry. Following that, she began to cough and feel weak in the legs. "What the hell's going on?" She managed to wheeze out.

Before she fully passed out, Misuki looked over her shoulder to see Rouge grab her from behind and smile. "Sorry sweetie. But I'm afraid I have to cut your little outing short. Dr. Eggman is expecting you."

"Knuckles help me!" Before she passed out, she used the last bit of energy to call out for Knuckles. But it was too late…she was swept away from the changing room before Knuckles could get to her.

An hour later, Misuki woke up lying on a cold ground in a dark cell. "What's going on?" she asked herself, looking around while slowly rising off the ground. When she was on her knees, she saw that she was still wearing the dress she had tried on. Looking at it made her remember what went on while she and Knuckles were shopping. "That woman! She kidnapped me while I was in the changing room! Rouge, show yourself! Let me outta here right now! Is anybody there!"

As she asked that question, two figures appeared from the dark. "Geez you're loud." One of them said. Misuki easily identified Rouge's voice just as the lights came on in the cell. "I'm not alone either." She stepped aside to let Shadow walk ahead of her. "Look who I brought."

"Shadow!" Misuki looked at him with a relieved face. "I'm glad to see you again. Please, you have to help me out of here."

"I can't." he said in a monotone voice.

Misuki, grip on the bars loosened as the words spilled from his mouth.

"Look, I appreciate you and the others accepting me in your group, but it wasn't going to change the fact that you and Dr. Hikotsu abandoned me when G.U.N. destroyed the lab."

"Shadow…you've got it all wrong." She tried to explain. "If you let me tell my side…"

"That's enough babbling for now." Eggman entered the room, stroking his disgusting mustache while chuckling to himself. "I think you've told Shadow enough lies for one lifetime. For now, it's time to focus on the future, which will soon belong to me; that is…once I obtain all of the Emeralds."

Misuki glared at Eggman as he placed a hand on Shadow's left shoulder. "Tell me Egg-face, what's it like to be a compulsive liar, a manipulator and…oh yeah…full of scum!"

Eggman's grin quickly faded away at Misuki's insult. "Laugh while you can, Misuki. Before you know it, I'll have all the Chaos Emeralds in my possession and then the world will be mine. You and all other people will soon be my slaves in the new Eggman Empire!"

"Yeah right." Misuki snorted. "Sonic's not gonna let you take over the world. Once I get out of here, we're gonna kick your ass all the way to the next century."

"Humph! We'll see about that." Eggman walked away with Rouge following a few feet behind.

Shadow on the other hand, took his time in leaving the room. His back was turned to Misuki as she just stared at him, hoping he'd give her a chance to listen. "Shadow…I know you can see that Eggman is manipulating you. If you can break out of it, you can help stop him. There's more going on than either of us know. Together, we can figure out what that is." She pleaded for him to open the lock and ambush Eggman. But Shadow said nothing.

After a long silence, he finally turned around to face Misuki and stare at her with a blank expression. He let out a sigh and crossed his arms before saying, "I'll give you one chance to explain yourself. What happened during the attack?"

Misuki smiled when Shadow gave her the opportunity to tell her side; the truth about what happened. "Well…you were put in a pod in the experimentation room after you went berserk during a simulation."

"I remember you telling me that part." He said. "You said I…hurt you when that happened."

Misuki nodded, feeling her heart pound faster and faster. She took a deep breath and continued her story. "The attack happened a month later. I heard endless gunshots from down the hall and went out to investigate. When I came out of my room, the hallway was filled with smoke. It was hard to breathe or make out what was going on. But what I did know was that you were in danger and made it my number one priority to protect you. I was able to slip past G.U.N. and make it to where you were being held. When I did, I headed straight for the keypad that unlocked your pod. But…I wasn't quick enough."

"What do you mean?" he asked, uncrossing his arms.

The next part Misuki was about to tell was definitely going to bring back memories for her. "My father saw me go into the room and went after me. Before I could get to the key pad, he grabbed me and escaped the lab. However, because the place was filled with smoke, from your point of view, it seemed like I just walked out of the room shortly after I walked in. You couldn't see the outline of my dad because he was outside of your vision. I did my best to get my father to come back for you, but it wasn't safe to go back. We came back the next morning and found that the entire facility was destroyed and everyone killed. I headed back to where you were, but…you were already gone. I never wanted to leave you, Shadow. I'm so sorry that I left you, and I've regretted it ever since. I even began to hate my father for making me leave you."

Shadow was silent after hearing Misuki's story. "Is that the honest truth?" he asked, staring deeply at Misuki.

Misuki nodded, fighting back tears. "That's the real truth, Shadow." She said softly. They both stared at each other before Shadow walked out of the room with his hands in his pockets. 'Shadow…I've told you the truth. What will you choose? Me…or Eggman?'

**Shadow:** As Shadow walked out of the holding chamber, he began to feel a sharp pain in his head. It pounded rapidly; much worse than the other times. He leaned against the wall for support, but collapsed the minute his hand made contact with the wall. Visions of the past flashed through his head quicker than he could blink. Then finally, he saw it. Shadow saw the very image of that day when G.U.N. attacked the lab.

"_Shadow, I'm coming for you!" Misuki's voice called out to him. Smoke filled the air, making it hard for Shadow to see a full image of Misuki. All he could see was an outline of her body running through the smoke and trying to get to him. "Shadow, where are you!"_

_ "Misuki, I'm just ahead of you!" he called out to her. "The key pad is on your left! Hurry and set me free!" He was guiding her through the smoke and right to the controls. _

_ She was almost towards the controls when Shadow saw her fade back into the smoke. "Shadow!" Misuki called to him_

_"Misuki, where'd you go? Come back! Misuki!" Shadow banged against the glass, trying to break through it and set himself free. But the material was too strong for him to break through. All he could do was sit there and listen to the sound of gunfire and the screams of the people being murdered. His heart raced as he waited for the sound of Misuki to scream out in pain, but he didn't hear it. 'Misuki…please be safe.' Those were his last thoughts as he just sat and waited for troops to retrieve him._

Shadow fought the urge to scream out in pain and just kept it bottled inside as he curled into a ball on the floor. The vision flashed through every brain cell he had and made him repeat his last thoughts over and over until it finally ended. When it did, Shadow retched on the floor, gasping and sweating from the agony he just felt. He wiped the access barf from his lips before regaining the strength to stand back up while again, leaning against the wall for support. 'It is true.' He thought to himself. 'She did try to save me.' In his mind, he knew Misuki was telling the truth, otherwise that vision wouldn't have been so painful and he wouldn't have barfed all over the floor. "Eggman's got some explaining to do." Shadow managed to push himself off the wall and head straight for the control room, where Eggman was. As he got closer, he could hear Eggman talk with someone. 'What's going on?' He stood against the wall and peaked into the room to see an alien talking to Eggman.

"We need Shadow's DNA to increase the strength of our soldiers." The alien said in a sinister voice. "It's clear that he's stronger than he was before he went missing. If our plans are going to continue, they need to be just as strong as the original being if not stronger."

"I'm aware of this." Eggman responded, sounding a bit intimidated. "However, he's been through a lot. If he fights now, he won't perform at top strength like we want him." His voice almost broke a few times, but went back to normal towards the end.

Shadow couldn't believe what he was listening to. Eggman had been selling him out…no…his DNA out to an alien in order to create alien soldiers. But what was their main goal? Before Shadow could listen to more, he felt the air around him thicken, as if something was about to happen.He snuck away back down the hall where he came from. Just after he passed the place where he got sick, Rouge was leaning against the wall with a small grin.

"So you found out Eggman's little secret, didn't you?" she asked, her arms crossed over her huge breasts.

Shadow stopped with a slightly shocking look. "You knew?"

Rouge chuckled. "That's why I'm here." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a badge that had G.U.N.'s symbol on it, along with her name below it. "I'm an agent for G.U.N. They wanted me to investigate Eggman, while trying to capture you and bring you into custody. But when I found out about Eggman's plans, I was ordered to learn all that I can about it."

"You're a spy?"

"You got it, sugar. But don't worry. I'm not going to take you to G.U.N. If you help me, I'll put in a good word for you."

"Do you honestly think I need your help with G.U.N.?" Shadow asked with fire burning eyes glaring right at Rouge. "I don't care of you turn me in or not. My first priority is stopping Eggman." Along with that priority, he also wanted to help Misuki escape. But he didn't want to admit it out loud.

Rouge shrugged her shoulders, and pushed herself off the wall. "Fine by me. We're going to run out of time soon. Find an escape route and I'll go break Misuki out."

Just as they were about to take off in different directions, the alarm blared loudly. "Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!" All of the Egg-bots scrambled throughout the halls and began their search for the intruders.

"Rouge, Shadow! Sonic and his friends have broken in! Make sure they don't reach Misuki! That's an order!" Eggman sent a quick message through their watches.

Neither of them said a word after he hung up. All they did was stare at each other for a moment. "Stick to the plan!" Shadow commanded to Rouge. "We have to get Misuki away from here! I'll find Sonic and lead him your way. We don't have much time! Let's hurry!" Shadow and Rouge took off in the same direction until Rouge broke off down another hall that led to the prison.

**Misuki:** "Dammit! I've got to get out of here!" Misuki did her best to break the bars so she could help Sonic and the others take Eggman down. She even tried using her Chaos Arrows, but the metal was too strong. All it did was make a small burn mark on a few of the bars. She used it three times before she collapsed to her knees from using an excessive amount of energy. "It's useless." She whispered to herself. "I'll never get out of here."

"Well now…don't say 'never' just yet."

Misuki looked up to see Rouge standing in front of the cell doors. "Rouge…what're you doing here? Making sure Sonic doesn't find me?"

Rouge smirked as she used her watch to send out a beam to cut down the prison bars.

Misuki stood up, staring at the cleanly cut bars as they each fell to the ground. "I…I don't understand." She said.

"I'd love to explain, but right now we've gotta make a break for it. Just thank Shadow when you see him."

"Shadow?"

Before Misuki could ask any questions, Rouge grabbed her by the hand and began running. "We have to move! They'll be here any minute!"

"Who will be here!" Misuki gasped as she was dragged down the hall. They both came through an abrupt stop when a figure slowly approached them. "Who's that?" she asked, taking back her hand. The figure got closer to reveal Shadow. "Shadow, it's you. Did you come to help us escape?"

He just stood there with a weird smile on his face. "Target escaping. Eliminating." He held his hand out and launched a missile out of it straight at Misuki and Rouge.

Rouge grabbed Misuki and jumped out of the way. Rouge rolled on top of Misuki, but quickly got up. "That's not Shadow! It's a clone!"

"A…clone?" Misuki sat back up and stared at the Shadow clone that stood before her. 'I don't understand.' Misuki quickly got up, grabbed Rouge and bolted as the Shadow prepared to fire another missile. The missile just missed them as they continued down the hall. "We're not going to get far with that thing right behind us!"

"Don't worry; back-up is on the way." Rouge quickly got on her communicator and contacted Shadow. "Shadow, can you hear me? It's Rouge! Come in!"

"I'm here!" Misuki heard Shadow's voice come from Rouge's watch. "What's going on?"

"One of the clones caught us and is currently on our tail. I don't know how long or how far we can run. Fighting him is definitely out of the question."

"Just hold on! I ran into Sonic and Knuckles. We're headed in your direction!"

"Got it!" Rouge hung up and kept running. "Don't worry! Your friends are with Shadow! They'll be here soon." She said, looking back at Misuki.

Misuki smiled after hearing that. 'I'm counting on you, Shadow.'

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait. School has been running me into the ground that I've had almost no time to work on this or read other fan fictions. But here it is. And just to let everyone know, things are about to change. So buckle up and get ready for a wild ride (wO)b


	17. The True Mastermind

**Seventeen: The True Mastermind**

**Misuki:** After about few minutes of running and dodging missile attacks, Rouge finally decided to throw a smoke bomb towards the Shadow clone, grab Misuki and make a break for it. They covered enough ground and managed to duck into an empty storage room and locked the door.

Misuki's heart pounded rapidly, while her breathing slowed down. She was afraid the clone would hear her heartbeat and find them easily. Both she and Rouge were sweating profusely at the tension that built up inside of them. Misuki found herself squeezing Rouge's hand tightly in fear. Rouge held her close, trying to calm her down. Eventually they heard footsteps slowly approach them. At this point, Misuki's eyes filled with tears.

'Shadow…please help us.' Misuki pleaded to herself.

The footsteps got closer and closer. Misuki knew it was the Shadow clone because if it was the real Shadow, she'd be able to sense the Chaos Emerald he carried with him. After a while, they heard the clone stop. All was silent until he spoke. "Target has escaped." It got silent again, but not for too long. "Understood. Search for intruders and traitor."

'Traitor? He must've meant Shadow.' The footsteps went back in the direction they came from and slowly faded as the clone walked away. "Is he gone?" Misuki whispered, her voice slightly breaking from fear.

Rouge waited a while before answering. "It seems like it. Stay here." Rouge cracked the door open and looked around. The coast was clear and she slowly stepped out of the room with Misuki close behind her. Once they were out, Misuki let go of Rouge's hand.

"We've got to find Shadow and the others." Misuki said, keeping her hand over her chest.

Rouge pulled out her communicator and typed in a few keys. "It looks like Shadow's got his own problems."

"What do you mean? What's happening?"

"Looks like he and Sonic are surrounded by a number of those clones. They're not far from where we are, but it might be dangerous to…hey! Misuki, where are you going!"

Before Rouge finished speaking, Misuki bolted in the direction they were running and headed straight for Shadow and Sonic. 'Hang on guys! I'm coming!' She picked up speed the moment she began to sense Shadow coming up ahead. It wasn't long before she caught up to them. Sonic and Shadow were fighting off multiple Shadow clones that surrounded them. "Sonic…Shadow!" Misuki shouted their names while continuing to approach them.

"Misuki, stay back!" Sonic warned them. She didn't listen. She was soon surrounded by three Shadow clones that proceeded to close in on her.

Misuki summoned as much of her power as she could and charged at the clone that was standing in front of her. "Don't mess with me you fakers!" Once one was down, Misuki took down the other two just as quickly. The power of the Chaos Emerald tore them to shreds, leaving behind a strange black substance that faded away shortly after it hit the floor. 'These clones weren't made by Eggman.'

"Gross…what is that!" Sonic asked.

"Sonic, behind you!" Misuki shouted, pointing to a clone trying to attack Sonic while his back was turned.

Shadow took care of the clone by shooting it in the head. It fell a few feet away from Sonic and slammed into the ground before turning into liquid.

"Thanks Shadow. You totally saved my life."

"I didn't do it for you. I just can't stand these disgusting things."

Misuki managed to get to Sonic and Shadow before using her Chaos Arrow to decrease the number of clones that surrounded them. "We have to get to the Emeralds fast!" she said. "They're just down the hall!"

"First we need to get away from these abominations!" Shadow made sure to stay close to Misuki so none of the clones would get to her.

A massive explosion came in their direction, surrounding them in a thick cloud of smoke that blinded them. "Leave these guys to us." Rouge's voice came from the clouds. She soon came into vision of Misuki and the others.

Soon another figure emerged. Knuckles was back-to-back with Rouge, making sure none of the clones tried to ambush them in the smoke fog. "We'll catch up when we can! Hurry up and go!"

"Knuckles, what about you?" Misuki asked, looking back at him.

"We'll be alright. The important thing is you stay safe. Now hurry before the fog clears up!"

Misuki stared at Knuckles before following Sonic and Shadow through the fog and out the other end before the clones saw them. They hid in a corridor to catch their breath before they proceeded on.

"Is everyone okay?" Sonic asked, panting just as hard as Shadow and Misuki.

"I…think so." Misuki answered. "But we're not out of the woods yet."

"She's right." Shadow said, wiping sweat from his forehead. "We have to find the Chaos Emeralds and stop whatever Eggman is planning." He peaked around the corner to see if anything was coming their way. He reloaded his gun, preparing for any attack that came our way.

Misuki looked passed him. "The Emeralds are in the door at the end of the hall on the left." She informed them, pointing to the door parallel to them.

"Stay close to us. Let's go." Shadow went out first, with Misuki following close to him.

'You're back on our side, Shadow. I'm happy.' Misuki wore goose bumps on her arms as she stood by Shadow.

He burst through the door that held the Emeralds and pointed his gun at Eggman. "You're finished, Eggman!" His voice roared like thunder during a destructive storm. Misuki saw the rage in his eyes that burned ember. "Hand over the Emeralds, and I'll spare your life."

Eggman didn't seem fazed by Shadow's threat. He just remained in his chair, his back turned to us and chuckling. "You're quite convincing, Shadow. It's a shame things had to turn out like this." He finally faced us, stroking his un-groomed mustache. "If you weren't so meddlesome, none of this would've happened."

"What are you talking about!" Shadow demanded.

"I knew you were spying on me through the door after you left the prison chamber. I knew you had figured out the truth about what happened."

They all let out a gasp of shock. Sonic pulled Misuki more towards him in case something happened to where Shadow would have to separate himself from the group.

"If you knew, then I want answers. Who or what were you talking to?"

"I shall introduce myself, if that is what you desire…Shadow." A sinister voice echoed around them; the air thinning out and pressure being released to where Misuki fell to her knees.

'What's happening?' Shadow and Sonic weren't intimidated by the energy, but Sonic knelt down to catch Misuki as she lost her balance.

**Shadow:** Darkness began to pass through them, forcing them all to catch quick glances at nightmares not ever spoken by man. The flashes forced all of their hearts to race faster and faster. Finally the mist began to come together and form a figure in the center of the room. A giant alien that wore what it looked like a robe that faded at the bottom, creating a dark mist where the creature was floating.

Shadow quickly pointed the gun right at it, keeping his emotions hidden. "What the hell are you!"

"How quickly you forget, Shadow." The creature said in a gargling voice that pierced Shadow's ears. "I am Black Doom. The one who made you what you are today."

Once again, silence fell upon everyone in the room. Shadow trembled with confusion. 'What did he say?'

Black Doom chuckled, triggering Shadow to regain his strength and face him with a relaxed mind. But he was far from that after Black Doom's comment. "It seems the Doctor was telling the truth; you really don't remember your whole past. Either way, I cannot allow you or your friends to leave now that you know our little secret. Especially that little girl you're protecting."

Shadow saw that he was staring dead at Misuki, with evil intensions. He intercepted his gaze, anger rising to the point where it was almost visible. "You lay one finger on her, and you'll have to answer to me!" 'I can't let him get to her. If I do…I'll never be able to live with the guilt.' The thought of protecting Misuki was the fuel that kept Shadow standing tall against Eggman and Black Doom. There was no more doubt in him on which side he wanted to fight on. That moment spoke it all.

"If you insist to go against me, then I'll have to dispose of you and remake you in my image." Black Doom raised his hand, releasing a needle from the center flying straight towards Shadow.

"No!" A sudden scream came from behind Shadow, but before he could turn his head all the way around, Misuki was already in front of him. She used her body as a shield and intercepted Black Doom's attack.

Shadow's face shattered at the sight of Misuki with a needle sticking through her back and out her stomach. When the needle retracted back, Shadow caught Misuki in his arms, dropping the gun down by his feet. "Misuki…why did you…"

Misuki looked up at him and smiled weakly. "I…wasn't going to watch…you die." She cringed in pain as blood stained her dress. The hole that was in her body throbbed with each breath she took. "I was just glad…to be…near you again. Shadow…I…I…" She blacked out before she could finish.

"Misuki…open your eyes! Misuki!" Shadow shook her, caressing her body as if trying to pass the pain to himself. "No. She can't be…" Before he knew it, Shadow was in a state of pure rage. He became a tornado, destroying everything that dared challenged him. All that he saw was red from the heat of his anger. Even the Chaos Emeralds reacted to him and levitated in the air for a short time. "You'll pay for this." He had the voice of death as he set Misuki down and proceeded towards Black Doom and Eggman. "I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" Shadow lunged forward and targeted Black Doom. But he summoned more Shadow clones to protect himself. Shadow mowed through them like weeds invading a lawn. "CHAOS SPEAR!" He launched his attack directly at Black Doom, who took a direct hit and got pushed back. The power he released caused massive damage to the base.

"Shadow, that's enough!" Knuckles shouted to him. "We'll deal with those two another time! Misuki needs help fast!"

Shadow looked over his shoulder to glance at Misuki's unconscious body. He finally let his energy drain out, relaxing his body and anger. He walked over to Misuki, took him in his arms and performed Chaos Control to teleport everyone back home.

They arrived in front of a hospital, where Shadow ran through the doors with Misuki in his arms, begging the nurses to help her. "Please, help her! She's in critical condition! I'm begging you!"

"Sir you need to calm down. We need a stretcher immediately!" The nurse called. Within minutes, three surgeons and the nurse came down the hall and took Misuki onto the stretcher and wheeled her into the O.R.

Shadow just stood there, thinking of the worst.

"Just relax, Shadow." Sonic placed a hand on Shadow's shoulders, causing him to look at him with worried eyes. "She'll be okay. We just have to stay positive."

Without saying anything, Shadow took a seat in the waiting room, his hands clenched together under the pressure of having to let go of Misuki after re-lighting their relationship. The only thing that relaxed him was the smell of medicine that lingered throughout the hospital; the same scent that most people would be afraid of once they set foot through the doors.

He was lost in his thoughts and fears that he didn't notice the rest of Sonic's friends enter the waiting room a few minutes ago. "Mr. Shadow?" Shadow looked up to see Cream standing in front of him with a small smile that gave the sun some competition. "There's no need for you to worry. Misuki's going to be just fine. Especially since we're all here as her support."

The words melted in Shadow's skin, shifting his mind back to hope, but there was still emotions stirring within him. 'She has to pull through. I refuse to let her go…not when I just got her back.'

"I'm looking for the family of Misuki Hikotsu." The same nurse that admitted Misuki into the hospital arrived in the waiting room an hour and a half later.

Shadow and the others quickly stood up once the nurse called her name. "We're her friends. Is she going to be okay?" Shadow's mouth ran faster than his feet at this point. But he couldn't help it since his entire body was shaking due to immense stress.

"Don't worry, your friend will be just fine." She said in a cheerful, but calm tone.

"You really mean it?" Knuckles asked, hovering over Shadow with as much joy.

The nurse nodded in confidence. "She just came out of the surgery room about five minutes ago, and is recovering nicely."

"Would it be alright to see her?" Shadow asked.

"Of course." The nurse answered. "But she's still asleep from the medicine she was given before surgery. But only three of you can see her at a time."

They all stared at each other, as if speaking telepathically on who should go in first. "I'll be one of the first to see her." Shadow said a minute later, standing next to the nurse.

"Fine by me." Sonic said. "I call the next slot open."

"Then the last one's mine." Knuckles spoke up a second after Sonic. "I'm just as worried about Misuki. Besides…part of this is my fault. If I had kept a closer eye on her, none of this would've happened."

"There was nothing you could do, Knuckles." Sonic said, consoling his friend. "Now let's go. She's waiting for us."

The three of them followed the nurse down the hall, passing several hospital rooms with different patients. Shadow stared into every one of them, thinking of how they all ended up here to begin with. What also passed through his head was the damage he had done to the city when he and Eggman followed Misuki and the others to Earth. There could have been victims of that still here after all this time, or the memories of those that were killed during the catastrophe that occurred because of him. His heart raced through all the sorrow that he began to carry with him. 'I could've hurt these people.' He thought, looking down at his feet. 'Some of them may never be the same again. Because of Eggman's lies, I walked around without caring about any of it. I don't deserve pity from anyone…not even her.'

"Here we are." They stopped at a room that read '132' on the side. Sonic and Knuckles let Shadow go in first. The nurse remained in the hall until they all entered the room to find Misuki sleeping peacefully. Shadow stood above her, making himself re-live the events that led up to this. It pained him to see her hooked to an I.V. and having her heart rate and blood pressure monitored. The small clicks and beeps that filled the little room all mocked him. In his mind, they were all repeating the same words over and over: 'Your fault…Your fault…Your fault…' He suffered this in his own silence, deserving the torture he forced himself to endure. "I'm here, Misuki. Everything's going to be okay now. I promise." He gently took her hand into his, feeling the comfort of her pulse.

As he held onto her, Shadow felt Misuki grip his hand slightly. He looked at her with a smile. "Sha…dow…" She wheezed his name through her lips, still asleep.

It made Shadow happy and relieved to see that she was definitely going to be okay and that he would have a chance to make up for everything he's done to her. "I swear to you, I'll never leave your side."

"If you wish to spend the night, I can make accommodations for you." The nurse said, while examining Misuki's blood pressure before looking up at Shadow and the others.

"I can stay with her until she wakes up?" Shadow asked.

"Of course you can. But only you can stay the night. The others will have to leave now." With that, the nurse left the three of them alone.

Shadow had a small smile of relief when he found out he could keep an eye on Misuki while she recovered. "Do…either of you object to me being the one to stay with her?" he asked Sonic and Knuckles.

"I don't mind. What about you, Knux?"

Knuckles was silent for a while with what looked like an aggravated expression. He made a quick glance at Shadow and then looked back at the wall. "I guess I don't have a problem with it." He said it in a low voice and faced the door. "But don't expect us to trust you so easily. You still hurt Misuki greatly. That's something…I can't ever forgive." Knuckles walked out of the room and back to the waiting room.

Shadow wasn't affected by his words because everything Knuckles said to him was the truth. All he did was let out a sigh of guilt until Sonic patted him on the back.

"Don't let him get to you. He's just as upset as you are. He blames himself for this like you do, and it's taking its toll on him. We're gonna head out. We'll be back tomorrow when visiting hours are open. Take care of her, Shadow. Call us if anything happens during the night."

Shadow nodded with a blank expression. "I will."

"Okay then. I'm outta here." Sonic walked out the room, closing the door behind him.

Once Shadow was alone with Misuki, he sat down on the edge of the bed, keeping his hand in Misuki's while running his fingers through her hair. He forgot how soft it was, remembering the time he spent with her when she was younger.

Author's Note: Didn't expect Black Doom, did ya? XP This was the chapter I've been dying to type since the very beginning. It's the only thing that's been in my head for weeks since I finally got to it. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Please R&R. Stay tuned!


	18. Repent

**Eighteen: Repent**

**Shadow:** Two days have passed and so far Misuki hasn't showed any signs of waking up. Shadow refused to leave the hospital until she woke up and was released with good health. He even went so far as to help the nurse change her bandages every few hours. In the middle of the afternoon, the doctor invited Shadow to eat with him in the cafeteria, assuring him that Misuki would be fine while he was gone.

Sitting across from the doctor, all Shadow ate was an apple and a bottle of coke. "Do you have any idea when she'll wake up?" he asked, screwing the cap back on his drink.

The doctor took a bite out of his hamburger before answering. "Unfortunately we can't determine that." He paused to swallow his food. "When we began operating on her, we gave her strong medicine to numb the pain. The minute we were done with her, she began to wake up and scream in pain. We had to give her another dose to knock her out. But it should wear off pretty soon." The doctor took a sip of his drink before asking Shadow, "Tell me, what is your relationship with this girl?"

Shadow stared at his half-eaten apple, going through his emotions. "She's…a special friend." He answered in a low voice. "We were longtime friends until I made a mistake in the past."

The two of them were silent for half of lunch. The doctor got up a while later and got Shadow a small salad, setting it in front of him. "You should eat something more than just that apple." He said with a small smile. "I noticed you didn't eat anything since you've been here."

Waiting a short while, the doctor let out a sigh of relief when he saw Shadow pick up his fork, take a portion of salad and put it in his mouth. He let the wet vegetable sit in his mouth along with the flavor of light ranch dressing that decorated the dish. "It's my fault she's in this place." He finally spoke after eating his third bite. "I put her in danger, causing her to get hurt. Now…all of the choices I made are swimming in my head, blaming me for what happened."

"You're not alone, my friend." The doctor said with an understanding tone. "I've made bad choices as well. Most of them cost me a lot of heartbreak and loss. But I got a second chance to make everything better. But remember this: what happens in the past stays in the past. In order to make things better, just keep looking towards the future and work your hardest to make a better life. Keep that in mind, and all your doubts will eventually vanish."

"Excuse me, Doctor…" A nurse approached the two of them, leaning towards the doctor to tell him something. "…you have a call from a patient you saw a few days ago."

"Alright, I'll be there shortly." The nurse walked away. "Well Shadow, I'd better get back to work. I'm glad we had this talk. Take care." He gulped down the rest of his drink before waving good-bye to Shadow and heading towards the exit.

Shadow waved back at him, before placing the salad in a carry-out container and walking out of the cafeteria and back to Misuki's room. His calm and expressionless face quickly turned to depression when he saw that Misuki was still asleep. '_What happens in the past stays in the past. Keep that in mind._'

"Hey pal. What's up?" Sonic, Tails and Espio came through the door, with smiles on their faced.

"Is Misuki doing alright?" Espio asked, looking over the monitors.

Shadow nodded while leaning back on the couch that was on the opposite side of Misuki's bed. "She's fine." He said in a melancholy tone. "But she won't wake up. The doctor said they had to give her medicine after the surgery because she woke up, screaming in intense pain."

The three of them went over and sat on the couch with Shadow, staring at Misuki's body. "We just have to stay positive." Tails said.

"Well said, buddy." Sonic complimented. "I have no doubt that she'll pull through this."

Their confident words made Shadow stare at Misuki, wishing he could dive into her subconscious and tell her to wake up. He wanted nothing more than to apologize to her and do everything in his power to make it up to her.

"Oh yeah! Cream and Amy said they had something for Misuki. I'll go get them." Tails got up and left the room.

Shortly after he left, Shadow turned to Sonic. "Where's the hothead? I thought he'd want to see her."

"You mean Knuckles? He's at home sulking." Sonic answered. "He's taking this really hard. He didn't even eat with us last night. All he does is work-out and then sit with the Master Emerald."

"He said he's praying to it for Misuki's recovery." Espio added.

Sonic chuckled. "He's picked up her traits. But that's expected from him."

"What do you mean?" Shadow asked, getting into the conversation.

"Well…ever since she's been with us, she and Knuckles have been super close. He always comforts her whenever she's sad or upset about something."

"Misuki always went to him for help." Espio jumped in. "He said the reason he didn't come was because he didn't want to fight you while she was in this condition."

"So he's in love with her." Shadow said out of the blue.

They both looked at him with confusion. "Where did that come from?" Sonic asked.

"It's obvious from the way you're explaining their friendship. He likes her as more than a friend." The room was silent as Shadow looked over, thinking Misuki would hear their conversation and wake up in an instant. "Does she know about his feelings?"

"Not that we know of." Sonic said, thinking about it. "He knows that Misuki still has feelings for you, so he's just kept his feelings inside and just stays a good friend to her."

Shortly after they finished their conversation, Cream and Amy entered the room. "Hey guys! We're here." They approached Misuki's bed, staring at her. "Hi Misuki, hope you feel better soon."

"We brought you some cookies. You can eat them when you wake up. Amy and I made them all by ourselves." Cream set the cookies on the table next to Misuki, then stepped to the side to let Amy set her batch down. "We hope you get better soon."

"Shadow…we brought some cookies for you too." Amy handed Shadow a small back of extra cookies before hugging Sonic and then taking off. "See ya later guys!"

"Bye Mr. Shadow. Please take care of Misuki for us. We'll be waiting for you to come home."

Shadow stared at the cookies that sat in his hands, getting lost in the sound of the plastic bag rustling as he gently squeezed the sides. He finally took out a cookie and bit into it. There was no expression as he ate it even though they were good.

"What's going to happen now, Shadow?" Sonic asked out of the blue. Shadow quickly looked over at him. "You found out Eggman turned you against Misuki and that he was working with a weird alien freak that's been making clones of you. Are you going to finally join our group or are you going to try to get revenge on your own?" Shadow didn't answer him. He just sat there staring at the half-eaten cookie in his hand. "I know Misuki would be mega happy to have you on our side again. When we saved you, you looked really happy to be with us. You and Misuki bonded so well when we went to the park."

"Believe me I want to be by her side after everything I've done to her." He finally spoke. "But…I might put her in more danger. Black Doom will try to kill me. If he finds me, he finds her as well. I know that's what they're thinking."

"What if you're wrong? What if they find her and use her to lure you out?" Sonic placed a hand on Shadow's shoulder. "Shadow, the best way to protect her is to stay by her like you promised her father. You're getting another chance to be with her."

In the middle of their conversation, Tails came back to the room. "Hey guys, the nurse told me that visiting hours are almost over. We should get going."

Espio stood up and walked out of the room. "Shadow, I hope you make the right choice; for you and Misuki."

"Good luck pal." Sonic patted Shadow twice on the shoulder before standing up and following the others out of the room.

When the door shut behind them, Shadow let out a sigh of confusion and doubt. He spread his boy across the couch, using his arm to cover his eyes as he pondered deeply through his mind about what was right.

**Two Days Later**

**Misuki:** Her body felt like rocks as she struggled to move her fingers. She was still slightly blacked out, trying to wake herself up from her nap. She managed to open her eyes to a strange room that smelled of medicine, and had equipment all around her that made constant beeping and clicking noises. Soon she realized she was in a hospital with an I.V. attached to her arm. She tried to remember what happened to her, but her memory was nothing but a blur. 'How did I get here?' Misuki turned her head to check the time, but seeing Shadow in the room asleep on the couch that was next to her bed distracted her.

"You're awake." The nurse walked in with a smile on her face and some bandages in her hands. "We thought you'd never wake up. You've been out for four days straight."

"Four…days?"

"That's right. You're friend's been staying here until you woke up. He was the one who brought you to us. He really does care for you."

Misuki suddenly got a quick flash of her being stabbed by Black Doom and then blacking out. 'Shadow…you saved me. Thank you.' She smiled at him, wishing she had the strength to stand up and take him in her arms.

"Okay, let's change your bandages." The nurse helped Misuki sit up in the bed and then proceeded to unwrap her old bandages.

The entire time the nurse fixed her up, Misuki couldn't stop staring at Shadow while thinking about what the future will bring for the two of them. He went through the trouble of rushing her to the hospital in order to save her life. After the nurse finished, she told Misuki that she'd be back with something for her to eat. The very mention of food made Misuki's stomach growl. As she watched the nurse leave, she noticed a small bag of cookies sitting beside her. She gently reached over and took the bag in her hands. Attached to the bag was a small pink note that said 'Get Well Soon' on the front. On the inside it read: 'Misuki, we hope you get better soon. We all love you and are thinking about you. Love, your friends.' After that there was a small smiley face sticker that was winking. The cookies were very delicious, and close to her mother's recipe.

About an hour later, the nurse came in with a tray of food and set it in front of Misuki. The meal contained two slices of cooked ham smothered in gravy, with mashed potatoes and peas on the side. She also got two cups of apple juice and a cup of yogurt. Misuki thanked the nurse as she left and began chowing down. 'I hope Shadow wakes up soon.' She thought to herself. 'There's so much to talk about.'

"Misuki?" Shortly after she thought that, Shadow rose up from his sleep and stared at her with tired eyes. "You're…finally awake."

"I am." Misuki replied with a small smile on her face. "It's good to see you again, Shadow. Thank you for saving me." There was a short pause between them. Misuki almost forgot about the plate of food sitting in front of her. She continued eating before everything got cold.

"Are you feeling okay?" Shadow asked, sitting upright on the couch, not daring to take his eyes off of Misuki.

"I'm feeling fine. Especially now that I'm putting something in my stomach. What about you? How are you feeling?" she asked, taking a sip of her apple juice.

"My wounds weren't as bad." He answered.

Misuki examined him and saw that he didn't have a scratch on him. His face was a bit dirty from staying here for four days in a row, but his strength wasn't at one hundred percent. "What about everyone else?"

"They've all recovered. Actually, your friends have come by here a few times."

Hearing that, Misuki looked back at the cookies Cream and Amy had left her. "I saw the bag of cookies." She chuckled a little, finishing off her food. "So what's going to happen now?" Misuki asked in a soft tone. "I mean…you found out the truth about Eggman and learned about a new threat to the planet. Are you going to join our group or go off on your own?"

Yet another awkward pause between the two friends. Both knew there was no easy answer for Misuki's question because of everything that had happened between them. Misuki wanted Shadow to join her and the others. She would be able to spend time with him and help him defeat Black Doom and Eggman. But she could tell by his gaze that even he didn't know what he wanted. "I…want to stay by you." Those words caught Misuki by surprise the moment they left his mouth. "But, I don't think I deserve it after what I did to you and your friends."

He was feeling guilt for causing Misuki pain and agony. On the inside, he was punishing himself by filling his being with negativity. "Shadow…I've told you many times that I'd forgive you for anything bad you've done to me." He looked up at Misuki. "You mean so much to me. I want you beside me again, so I can help you."

Shadow stood up from the couch and knelt to his knees while taking Misuki's hands into his, laying his head in her lap. The atmosphere changed to a more sensitive scene as Misuki's heart raced out of her chest and bounced all around the room. "I swear to stay by your side no matter what. I'll do whatever I have to in order to pay for everything I've done to you." His hands turned into small earthquakes beneath Misuki's skin.

There was nothing she could say at this point. Her words became silent gasps of breath as she and Shadow shared glances at each other.

During their moment together, both parties came back to the real world once a knock came to the door. Their heads jerked towards the door while they separated themselves, and Shadow quickly got back to his original position on the couch. "Come in!" Misuki said, trying to force her pulse to slow down. The machine raced along with her pulse.

"Well, well, if it isn't sleeping beauty? Glad to see that you're awake." Sonic came through the door with his famous smile. Behind him was Knuckles and Charmy.

"I'm glad to see all of you too! How's everyone doing?" Misuki leaned over to hug Sonic as he approached her.

"They're all doing okay." He answered her, walking over to the couch. "They'll be really happy to know you're awake."

After talking to Sonic for a while, Misuki turned her attention to Knuckles. "How are you Knuckles?"

He gave Misuki a small smile, forcing himself to keep his focus on her instead of Shadow. "A lot better now. Glad to see that you're okay." His tone was almost inaudible. Knuckles leaned against the wall, turning his attention from her to his shoes.

"Misuki I made you a card!" Charmy handed Misuki a small card made out of blue construction paper with drawings and stickers all over the cover. She opened the card to see everyone had signed the card and left little comments above their names. "So, do you like it?"

Misuki smiled at Charmy while ruffling his hair. "Thank you, buddy. I'm feeling a lot better now that my friends are here."


	19. Home Sweet Home?

**Nineteen: Home Sweet…Home?**

**Misuki:** Misuki stayed in the hospital for one more night before she was finally released. Misuki signed the papers to release her, took her medication from the nurses and was finally on her way back home where everyone was waiting for her. Misuki sat comfortably in a wheelchair while Shadow pushed her out of the hospital and stopped at the door, where he walked around Misuki turned away from her and knelt down with his palms facing outward. "What're you doing, Shadow?" she asked him.

"We can't take the wheelchair home with us. I'll carry you on my back…like when you were little."

Hearing Shadow bring up the past caused Misuki's hart to race again. Her face flushed bright red as she slowly leaned forward and climbed on his back. He rose from his knees, carrying Misuki's weight like she was a small animal.

"Are you comfortable?" he asked her as they proceeded through the city.

Misuki nodded as her grip tightened against his shoulders. "I'm fine." The feel of his body against hers made Misuki re-live her childhood when Shadow carried her on his back whenever she fell asleep while she played. Even though she couldn't see his face, Misuki could see that he was blushing. 'This is real. It's not just a dream. I'm actually with Shadow at last.'

It wasn't long before they arrived at the house. Shadow let Misuki down from his back, but still kept close to her so in case she wasn't stable. "Will you be alright?" he asked, keeping a hand on her shoulder and the other on her arm.

"It's hard to balance myself after being asleep for four days. I might be a bit wobbly."

"Just hold on to me."

Misuki handed Shadow her card key and let him swipe it. After he did so, she reached to the keypad and typed in the code that unlocked the door. The minute it opened, everyone came out of nowhere, shouting "WELCOME HOME, MISUKI!" Confetti shot everywhere as Shadow and Misuki entered the house.

"Wow, thanks guys." She smiled, loving the warmth of the home and her friends. It was even warmer with Shadow there. "It's so good to be home at last."

"You should sit down." Shadow helped Misuki over to the couch.

"Let me help, Shadow." Sonic came over and helped Misuki lean forward and set herself gently on the couch. "You really are a trooper, Misuki. We knew you'd pull through."

Misuki giggled. "Like I'd let that alien freak get the better of me. He's gonna learn soon that I don't go down that easily."

Knuckles sat on Misuki's right side and handed her a cup of crystal water. "I thought you might be thirsty."

"Thanks Knuckles. But I won't drink it until I get a hug from you." She spread her arms out, waiting for Knuckles to lean over and embrace her. He put the glass down on the floor and hugged Misuki like she wanted. "I missed talking to you." There was silence as he let go of her and handed her the water.

"We forgot to welcome Shadow back too." Sonic said, putting his arm around Shadow. "He's decided to join our group."

"Are you serious?" Vector asked.

Misuki turned to him and nodded. "It's true. Shadow is going to help us fight Eggman and Black Doom." At first, it seemed everyone was a bit hesitant about that idea, but then later they all began to show happiness and excitement, welcoming Shadow to the group with open arms. But Knuckles was the only one who remained cautious and hostile towards Shadow. He stood up from the couch and left the living room. Misuki turned and noticed him walking away with anger in him. "Knuckles, is everything okay?" she asked him.

"I'm fine. I've…lost sleep worrying about you. I need to catch up." He didn't even look at Misuki when he answered her. His voice had a small growl behind it that worried Misuki.

She let him walk up the stairs, not knowing what to say to him. 'I hope he's okay.'

After a while, Misuki was able to stand on her own and felt like a brand new person. "Okay, now that I'm refreshed and ready to go, how about I cook up a grand feast to celebrate my release from the hospital and Shadow joining us!"

"That sounds like a great idea." Sonic said.

"I'd be glad to help if you want me to." Espio stepped forward.

Misuki nodded. "Awesome, let's get to work! Shadow, feel free to look around the house if you want."

"I'll show him around. I don't think he got the grand tour. Follow me, Shadow." Sonic took Shadow out of the living room and through the house while Misuki and Espio began to prepare dinner.

Misuki looked around the kitchen, trying to remember what they had in the house.

"I did go shopping one day and got some extra ingredients." Espio informed her. "Wanna try making roast beef or something?"

"Roast beef doesn't sound bad, but it doesn't really fit the occasion." Misuki wanted to make something special to re-welcome Shadow. "I want this to be a meal no one will ever forget."

"That's how all your meals are, Misuki." Espio chuckled while getting out a pan and a pot. "Whatever we make, Shadow's going to love it. Count on it."

She laughed at Espio, while getting out the ingredients for roast beef. "If you say so."

"We have to keep an eye on Black Doom's and Eggman's movements." Espio said, while making side dishes. "They'll try to track Shadow down."

"I won't let them lay a finger on Shadow." Her voice contained a sinister tone along with a low growl.

"Dinner's ready, everyone! Come down to the dining room!" Misuki called up the stairs to everyone while Espio set the table and put finishing touches on the food. She went back into the kitchen to help Espio clean up the mess that was left over from cooking. "Are you sure this meal is appropriate for the occasion?" she asked for the second time.

Espio laughed at her question. "I'm one hundred percent sure he will be satisfied with the meal."

She nodded while slightly blushing as the two of them brought out the food and set it in the center for everyone to stare at. "Here's the feast!" she presented before taking her seat after bringing in the bowl of mashed potatoes. "Enjoy the meal everyone."

Hands flew all over the food as everyone took one of everything and stuffed it on their plates and then into their mouths. Words were not spoken for the entire meal. Among the joy of the feast that was consumed, there was also a hint of aggression and tension. Misuki already had a clue of where it was coming from as she looked over at Knuckles who barely had anything on his plate and only ate about one-third of it. "Knuckles, is everything okay?" she asked him. "You haven't eaten a single thing, and it's usually not like you to hold back on a meal."

He didn't make eye contact with her, nor responded right away. Instead, he fiddled with his food and sighed.

"Knuckles, why won't you talk to me?"

"He's upset because Shadow's here, which means Misuki will want to hang out with Shadow than with him!" Charmy blurted out without thinking.

Knuckles stood up, his hands trembling. "It doesn't matter whether or not he's here." He spoke under his breath. "I still don't trust him after what happened. He can put on a charade all he wants…but it won't fool me." He stormed out of the room, leaving high stress lingering in the air.

"Nice going, Charmy." Sonic said, glaring at him. "You really need to learn to think before you speak, dude."

"Sorry guys."

**Knuckles:** His anger was off the scale. Punching the work-out bag was the only way to calm himself down.

"Hey Knux, you got a minute?" Sonic came in a few minutes later and just stood out of the way so he wouldn't accidentally get punched. "We seriously need to talk."

"Is Misuki mad at me for what I said? I wouldn't be surprised." His voice was emotionless. He continued punching away his problems, not able to get Shadow out of his mind and all of the things he put Misuki through.

Sonic sighed as he took a seat on the small bench that was used to lift weights. "Well…she's surprised." He admitted, patting his hair back. "But even if Charmy kept his mouth shut, Misuki probably would've figured it out on her own. We've known her for so long that we can't hide anything from her; just as she can't hide anything from us."

Knuckles let Sonic's words sink into him as he stopped punching and stood still.

"Misuki's not going to ignore you or anyone just because Shadow's here. No matter what, she still values all of us equally."

"I know that!" Knuckles exclaimed. "That's not what I'm concerned about. How can you guys trust Shadow so easily after everything that happened? How do we know he won't try to take Misuki away?" He looked at Sonic hard, waiting for him to respond. He could tell Sonic was thinking the same thing.

"You're right; we're not sure what his motives are. But if Misuki trusts him, then so do I."

Knuckles stared at him with a confusing look. "Sonic, you can't be serious!"

"Listen pal, all we can do is keep our guard up. And also, I suggest apologizing to Misuki. She made a great meal and you hardly ate anything."

"Umm…Knuckles?"

Sonic and Knuckles turned to see Misuki and Charmy come into the gym. Charmy had his head down with sorrow covering his face.

"I'm…sorry for what I said. I didn't mean any of it. Do you forgive me?" He shot his innocent eyes at Knuckles.

Knuckles remained silent for a while, thinking about it. "I guess I accept. Just make sure you don't blurt stuff out."

"I promise!" Charmy snapped back to his usual happy self.

"You're free to go." Misuki let him run past him to do whatever he normally would. "Are you alright Knuckles? I got worried after you stormed out of the dining room."

His hear pounded as she approached him with those kind eyes filled with concern. He saw that the only person she was thinking about was him. Without having control over his actions, Knuckles lunged forward and embraced Misuki. "I'm sorry, Misuki. I didn't mean to act the way I did." He could feel the chills that ran down her arms and spine.

Misuki was hesitant to put her arms around Knuckles. "It's alright, Knuckles. I'm not mad or anything. I was just shocked. But…" She pulled away from Knuckles and looked into his eyes. "…I want you to give Shadow a chance. Everyone deserves a second chance. Just give him the benefit of the doubt."

That was a big thing Misuki wanted him to do. He kept himself from biting his lower lip in anger as he thought about Shadow and what he's done. All he focused on was the bad. He didn't even think twice about the fact that it was Shadow who rushed Misuki to the hospital when she was stabbed. The only thing he saw was the image of Misuki with tears flowing from her eyes every time they encountered Shadow. Finally he sucked it up and said, "I'll try for you." He gave her a small smile.

Misuki jumped with joy. "Thanks Knuckles!"

**Misuki:** "Misuki, there you are!" Espio ran through the doors in a dead run, obviously in shock.

"Espio what's going on?" They all looked in his direction.

"It's the news! You've got to see this!"

Misuki began having a strange sensation in her stomach as she and the others followed Espio to the living room where everyone was gathered around the television. Once Misuki came in, Vector turned up the volume. "Check this out!"

"This is an announcement from the G.U.N. military and the president. Black Creatures have descended from the sky and are beginning to invade New York as well as other parts of the world. The president has authorized everyone to evacuate their homes and follow G.U.N. soldiers to helicopters. Everyone will be taken to a safe bunker until the invaders are dealt with."

"Black Doom's already sending his troops? This is bad." Tails said.

"How long until they reach our location?" Misuki asked while trying to calm her heart.

"Based on how many troops he's sending, it's only a matter of minutes."

Misuki turned her attention back to the screen, seeing the monsters destroy everything. "We have to move quickly."

"Misuki's right. First thing's first, Amy, Cream, Cheese and Charmy have to get to safety with the other civilians." Sonic suggested.

Amy stood in front of Sonic and looked at him with disappointment. "Sonic, I wanna stay with you!" She grabbed his shirt, keeping her tears in her eyes. "I can help you! Please Sonic!"

Sonic took Amy by the hands and held them close. "Amy, please. I need you to do this for me. None of us want you to get hurt. You'll be safer with the troops, and when everything is over we'll come back for you. This is my promise to you."

There was a short pause as Misuki held Cream's hand while Cheese rested on her head. "Mr. Sonic is right, Amy. Those monsters look tough and scary. We're no match for these monsters."

Amy finally gave in. "Okay, Sonic. But promise you'll come back for me."

Sonic pulled Amy into his embrace, holding her gently. "I promise."

"Now that that's settled, we just have to get them to a G.U.N. helicopter." Misuki chimed in, keeping hold of Cream's hand. "The only problem is getting passed the aliens."

Author's Note: Okay I just want to clarify that Knuckles did care about what Charmy said about Misuki ignoring him for Shadow. He did care, but his pride wouldn't let him say it. Also I'm thinking about bolding the names and the chapter titles to make it easier for peoples to read. If I do decide to do this, then it'll be a long while until the next chapter will be written and posted. Thanks for understanding me and supporting me.


	20. Invasion

Author's Note: Well everyone, here it is! The chapter you've all been waiting for! This chapter has a lot of tension and some action! Please R&R! Sorry for the long wait, but I hope you all will be satisfied (^_^)b

**Twenty: Invasion**

**Misuki: **"How do we get passed the aliens? There's probably hundreds out there by now."

"I've located the helicopter." Tails showed everyone the coordinates on his laptop. "It's two miles from here."

"We can use Chaos Control and get past the aliens."

"Great idea, Shadow!" Misuki exclaimed.

"You guys should hurry." Espio said. "We don't have much time before the aliens reach us. We have to find a place to hide until we can think of something to stop them."

"How about my father's underground lab?" Misuki suggested. "They'll never find us there. We could also get everything working at full speed since we have the Master Emerald."

Everyone was silent for a while as they contemplated Misuki's idea. "It's all we have for right now." Sonic said. "Misuki, you, me and Shadow will take Amy, Cream, Cheese and Charmy to the G.U.N. helicopter while everyone else prepares to leave. We'll be back before it's time to go."

"Be careful guys."

"You got it, Tails." Misuki, Shadow and Sonic gathered around the kids and prepared for departure. "Ready Shadow?"

Shadow nodded before taking a hold of the Chaos Emerald that was chained to his belt. Together, he and Misuki chanted "CHAOS CONTROL!" and teleported from the living room straight to the location of the helicopter in a matter of seconds. Once they were in range, they all ran over to the helicopter, helping the troops lift up Amy, Cream, Cheese and Charmy in with the other civilians.

"Promise you'll come back for us, Sonic." Amy pleaded before getting in.

"I promise, Amy." Sonic held out his pinkie, wrapping it around Amy's, marking his promise to her.

After a few minutes, the helicopter began taking off with the civilians inside. Around that time, Misuki's body began trembling to the point where her legs became weak and she fell to her knees.

"Misuki, are you okay?" Sonic went right to her side, helping her up.

She took in a few deep breaths while trying to regain her balance. However, that was a failure as she leaned against Sonic. "There's a Chaos Emerald near here. Just a little further ahead."

Shadow got in front of Misuki and forced her body against the back of his, lifting her up. "I'll carry her. Let's move."

Misuki lost all traces of her breath at that moment. Once again, she found herself being carried by Shadow. By the time she caught a hold of what was happening, they were already within inches of the Emerald. "Looks like the aliens got to it before we did." Misuki got off Shadow's back, seeing the Emerald contained in a chamber made from alien material.

"How do we get to it?" Sonic asked.

"You don't." A voice came from behind the container. It belonged to a Shadow clone who gave all of them a very sinister smile as a few black aliens emerged from behind him and surrounded Misuki, Sonic and Shadow. "Instead, I kill you, take your Emeralds and then Black Doom takes control of this planet."

Sonic and Shadow stood in front of Misuki, as if she couldn't defend herself. She too took a fighting stance. "I'd like to see you try." Shadow challenged, pulling out his gun from the back of his pants. "Get out of our way!"

The Shadow clone cackled, his voice echoing across the now empty city. "This is going to be fun." With the wave of his hand, the black creatures charged towards Misuki and the others at full speed.

The moment they moved in, Shadow began firing. Sonic sped right through the army, punching and kicking the aliens.

While those two fought off the horde, Misuki snuck around right to the Shadow clone, punching him square in the face. "I'll make you wish you were never created."

The Shadow clone stood up, wiping the dust from his face and clothes. He got to his feet and chuckled. "You're feisty for a little girl."

Misuki held up her Chaos Arrow, aiming it directly at his chest. "Wanna rephrase that before I terminate your existence?"

"Do you honestly think I'm intimidated by you?" He snapped his fingers, which called a giant black alien to emerge from behind Misuki and grab her with one hand, lifting her in the air.

"Sonic! Shadow! Help me!" She tried to struggle free, but the monster's grip nearly took her breath.

The Shadow clone laughed with glee at his triumph. "Make any sudden moves, and your friend is history!"

**Shadow: **"Let her go, you bastard!" Shadow exclaimed, pointing his gun at the clone.

Sonic lowered Shadow's hand. "Hold it, Shadow. Your gun isn't going to do anything to that creature. Plus…you might his Misuki."

"Damn it." They were stuck in an impossible situation with no way around it. 'Wait, I might be able to save her. But I have to time it just right.' Without saying a word, Shadow grabbed a sword that one of the aliens were holding and sped towards the monster, slashing it in half and catching Misuki in his arms. "Are you alright?" He asked her.

"Umm…I think so."

Shadow set Misuki down before pointing the sword towards the clone. "Now you're the one who'll be history."

"Do you honestly think I'll go down that easily? You're nothing compared to me." The clone quickly kicked the sword out of Shadow's hand before charging at him head-on until they were both in a hand-to-hand combat. The clone pushed Shadow back for a while before Shadow leapt into the air, did a backflip over the clone and pressed his gun against the clone's head. The clone froze.

"One blow to the head and you're history." Shadow's voice was sinister. It didn't even sound like him.

The clone chuckled. "Even if you get rid of me, there will be another to replace me. For every one of us you kill, three more will come. You and your friends are helpless."

Shadow pulled the trigger, splattering the black material that made the clone. Once he hit the floor, he turned into black goo that evaporated within seconds.

"Shadow, I think I found a way to open this container!" Misuki ran over to the container, looking down at something. Sonic and Shadow went towards her to see a keypad attached to the container. "Maybe we should've forced him to tell us the code." Misuki said, punching in random numbers.

"He wouldn't have talked." Shadow said, pulling out his gun. "Stand back." He forced himself between Misuki and thee keypad, shooting the keypad. It malfunctioned and opened the container.

Misuki walked over and took the Emerald in her hands. "Don't worry little Emerald. You're safe with us." She caressed the jewel before turning to Sonic and Shadow. "Let's hurry and get back home. The others should be almost ready to go."

When they arrived back at the house, everyone had already loaded the ship with everything they were going to need. "You guys work fast." Sonic said.

"Well we don't really have much choice, do we?" Knuckles said, carrying a few boxes.

"What about the Master Emerald?" Misuki asked. "Did you guys put that back on the ship?"

Knuckles nodded. "Yep, it's ready to go. Just a few more things and we'll be ready."

"We might have to pick up the pace." Misuki pointed out. "We found an Emerald the aliens were keeping. They'll definitely send creatures to take it back."

"Don't worry. Espio has the last of the supply. He loaded them onto the ship, so after this we're good to go." Knuckles gave Shadow a quick glance before turning away and heading towards the ship.

Shadow knew Knuckles still held a grudge against him, but he didn't let that bother him. In his mind, the only person he needed forgiveness from was Misuki. He vowed to stay by her at all times and not let anything get in between them again. "Misuki, what's that on your arm?" Shadow just realized that Misuki had a dark bruise on her left forearm.

Misuki looked down and saw the bruise, but didn't make a big deal out of it. "It must've been from when that monster gripped me. I'll take care of it once we take off. Let's hurry before Tails decides to leave us." They all headed to the ship, seeing Tails refill the ship with gas while checking the ship's mainframe to make sure nothing would go wrong.

"Everything ready, Tails?" Misuki asked.

"Almost." Tails answered. "The tank is almost full and it seems the Blue Typhoon is functioning just fine. We'll be ready to go in five minutes."

"Great! Let's climb aboard! I'll make some rice balls for the trip." Misuki took Shadow's hand and pulled him aboard.

His mind went blank as he felt her warm, tender skin make contact with his. He found himself squeezing her hand as they entered the ship together, heading towards the kitchen to get started on the snacks. 'Even in a crisis…she's still able to smile.' He watched Misuki prepare rice balls with a cheerful expression.

"Everything okay, Shadow?" she asked him. "You look a bit zoned out."

He quickly jerked his head away from her so she wouldn't see the red tint in his cheeks. "I'm fine." He responded nervously. He felt his skin begin to flare in fear of Misuki seeing his face. His heart pounded rapidly as she continued looking at him.

Misuki finally smiled at him. "You're anxious for these rice balls, aren't you?"

He forced himself to make eye contact with her.

"Don't worry. They'll be ready soon. I'll pass them out once we take off."

Shadow nodded, as he watched Misuki go back to work.

"Hey guys, buckle up." Sonic came into the kitchen. "We're about to take off."

"Okay, we'll be right there." Misuki put the rice balls and the ingredients into the oven for safekeeping before her and Shadow headed to the cockpit and fastened themselves in as Tails activated the engines. The platform the ship was on rose to the surface.

"Hold on guys! We're taking off!" Tails blasted off into the sky, over the now burning city.

**Misuki: **"Look at all of this." Misuki trembled at the sight of everything disintegrating before her eyes. "Why would Black Doom do this?"

"We'll stop him, Misuki." Sonic reassured her. "He'll learn not to mess with us earthlings."

Misuki nodded while continuing to look out the window. 'I hope we can stop him. Everyone is depending on us.'

"Okay guys, we're at a safe altitude." Tails announced. "Feel free to move around the ship."

"I'm going to finish making the rice balls. They'll be ready soon." Misuki unbuckled herself from her seat and stood up. "Are you coming, Shadow?" She waited for Shadow to stand up and follow her back to the kitchen. Misuki took everything out of the oven and continued making the snacks. "Here's yours, Shadow." Misuki handed a rice ball wrapped in a napkin to Shadow.

Shadow hesitated for a while before finally taking it in his hands.

"You remember I used to make them all the time when I was younger? Dad used my mom's recipe."

"Back then you were still learning." Shadow said softly, staring into his rice ball. "They always came out really salty." A small chuckle broke from beneath his words.

Misuki laughed along with him, remembering the taste of her amateur cooking. "Yeah I remember that. I can still see my father's expression as he forced himself to eat them. He did it so he wouldn't hurt my feelings." Finally her rice balls were complete. She set all of them onto a big plate before going over to wash her hands. "I'm glad we're together again, Shadow." She spoke with a bit of sadness. "You have no idea how much I wished for us to be back together like this. Also…I'm sorry for what I did to you."

Shadow glanced at her.

"I tried to rescue you. But…I was too late. I should've fought harder against my father to go back for you. I…" Before she could finish, Misuki found herself entrapped by Shadow's embrace. "Shadow…" That was all she could say as he held her tighter.

"Please don't apologize." He whispered to her. "It's not your fault. Eggman lied in order to use me. I'm the one who should be apologizing to you."

Misuki's body completely stopped shaking. The only thing she could feel was her heart pounding along with his. His breath was warm against her skin.

"I'll do whatever I can to protect you from this day forward. This is my promise to you."

Those words triggered Misuki's tears to flow down her face as she took a hold of him, pulling him closer into her. She didn't want to move. 'We both want the same thing. We want to protect each other.' "Shadow…I'm so…happy."

After a few more minutes, Shadow pulled away from Misuki and wiped her tears away. Misuki took a few deep breaths and went to pass out rice balls to everyone. "Here Tails. Have a rice ball."

"Thanks Misuki. This will really calm my nerves." Tails took a rice ball from the plate and ate a small bite. "Delicious as always."

Misuki giggled. "If you want more, they'll be in the kitchen." Misuki left to deliver rice balls to the others.

**Knuckles: **"Want a rice ball, Knuckles?" Knuckles stared at the serving plate topped with rice balls.

He took one and said, "Thanks Misuki."

"Anytime!" She walked back down the hall, humming to herself. He was relieved to see Misuki happy again, but deep within him, Knuckles couldn't help but believe that Shadow would do something to bring back her pain.

Knuckles found Shadow in the lounge, staring out the window. "Shadow." He waited for Shadow to look at him. "I need to talk to you. Follow me." Knuckles couldn't stop his fists from shaking as he led Shadow to a secluded area on the ship. Just looking into his eyes made him burn with fury.

"I find it strange that you want to talk to me." Shadow said, leaning against the wall. "I already know you're the only one that doesn't trust me on this ship."

Knuckles took in a breath to keep calm. "Listen, Shadow. I'm only going to say this one time. If you do anything to hurt Misuki in any way…I'll rip you apart." The air filled with the sound of Knuckles growling. He clenched his fists so tightly that they almost bled.

The two of them had a momentary stare down as images of flames surrounded them. Their hate for each other mixed, creating a wave of destruction around them. Finally, Shadow let out a small chuckle.

"You think this is a joke!"

"No that's not it." Shadow pushed away from the wall and stood straight. "It's funny that you talk as if you can actually stand a chance against me."

Knuckles growled louder, now feeling thick liquid swerving through between his fingers and dripping by his feet. "What did you just say, you bastard?"

"As of right now, you're not the only one protecting her."


	21. Back to Where it Began

**Twenty-One: Back to Where It Began**

**Knuckles: **"Care to run that by me again?" Knuckles' anger rose even greater the more the conversation went on.

"You've protected Misuki this entire time. You thought you could replace me as the one she deeply loves. Now that I'm back, you're job of protecting her is over."

"You expect me to just abandon Misuki just like that?"

"Face it, Knuckles. You've had feelings for her for a long time now from what I've gathered. You tried so hard to get her to have the same feelings for you, even though she was still in love with me. Now that I'm in her life again, you're threatened by me. It's cute how you think you'd actually have a chance with her."

Knuckles attacked him without warning, aiming straight for the face. Shadow was able to dodge it and send his fist flying past him. "I've had enough of you, Shadow! I'll make you pay for every tear Misuki has shed on your sorry ass!" He retaliated, kicking Shadow in the back and forcing him to his knees.

The blow had caused Shadow to let out an exasperated cough. But apart from that, he wasn't too affected by the hit. "Is that the best you can do?" He smirked, standing back on his feet. "If you want to protect Misuki, you'll have to do better than that."

"You smug bastard!" Knuckles tossed one punch after another towards Shadow. None of them hit as Shadow dodged at a faster pace. "I'll make sure Misuki never cries again!"

"And you believe taking me out will make that a reality? Man, you're even slower than I thought."

Knuckles yelled in anger and rushed Shadow once again.

Shadow used his arms to break the impact of Knuckles' attack, only sliding him farther away. "Use your head, you idiot!" Shadow shouted. "Do you really think hurting me in any way will make Misuki happy? She's gone through so much just to get me here and open my eyes to the truth!"

"I know that." He responded in a low tone. "But…I comforted her." He thought back to the time when they had saved Misuki from Shadow and Eggman, and she had ran into Knuckles' arms and wept for hours. He still felt the chill of her skin; the way she trembled with each breath. "I felt her sorrow emerge from her, and consume her completely…because of you." He gritted his teeth at the memory of Misuki's face hidden by tears. "I refuse…to see her like that again. If that means putting you in your place, then that's what it takes!" Knuckles continued throwing punches and kicks, getting a few lucky shots at Shadow every now and then. The last punch he threw knocked Shadow through a wall, crashing into the lounge where Misuki and Sonic were playing cards.

The two of them stood up in shock as Shadow crashed into the table and scattered the cards all over the room. "What the hell's going on!" Misuki exclaimed, running to Shadow. "Shadow, are you alright?"

"We're not done, Shadow." Knuckles came through the wall, slowly walking towards Shadow.

**Misuki: **"Knuckles, what's gotten into you?" she asked, helping Shadow off the floor.

"It's all his fault." Knuckles pointed to Shadow. "He's caused us nothing but trouble since we ran into him! He's brought back all of your bad memories and has hurt you! That won't happen ever again!" Knuckles raised his fist and prepared to attack Shadow once again.

Misuki pulled Shadow behind her, using herself as a barrier. While she did that, Sonic was able to grab Knuckles from behind and stop him. While he was being held, Misuki walked over to Knuckles and struck him in the face. It pained her to do so, but it was the only way to bring Knuckles back to his senses. "What makes you think that I would be better off without Shadow? The world is being threatened by aliens and you're still concerned about Shadow's motives towards me! Eggman lied to him. He was used just to get my Emerald. Maybe if you focus more on the inside instead of just the outside, you'll get to know more about a person!"

Knuckles couldn't say anything against that. Sonic slowly released Knuckles, allowing him to run out of the room. "Knuckles come back!" Sonic attempted to go after him.

"Hang on, Sonic." Misuki stopped him. "Let me talk to him." There was only one place Knuckles would go when he was depressed: the gym. She found him just sitting down in the middle of the boxing ring punching the floor repeatedly. "Mind if I sit next to you?" She stood behind him, giving him a smile.

"Sure." His tone was low and soft. "Listen…I'm sorry about what happened. I just…"

"I know." She interrupted. "You wanted to protect me from my sadness and fears. I'm very grateful. But, Shadow is one of us now. He's making it up for everything he did to me." Misuki placed a hand on Knuckles' shoulder, rubbing it gently. "Listen, tensions are high right now because of Black Doom, and we are all in a lot of stress. But if we take this out on each other, none of us will be a match for the aliens."

Knuckles nodded, smiling at her. "I'm really sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it. You just let your feelings for me get the better of you."

There was a short pause. "Feelings?" Knuckles blushed a slight bit while staring at Misuki. "Wh…What do you mean?"

Misuki laughed. "Come on, Knux! I knew from the beginning that you had a crush on me. You always stood by my side. Plus there were a few times I heard you at night talking to Sonic on how to get me to like you back."

His face became a deeper shade of red and his throat dried up severely.

"But…I was glad that we spent so much time together." She said. "Now we're great friends." She patted his shoulder again before standing up. "Now let's go back so you can apologize to Shadow." Misuki offered him her hand. Knuckles stood up, taking Misuki's hand regaining color in his face. "Whether Shadow is here or not, we'll always be best friends."

Knuckles nodded.

When they returned to the lounge, Sonic and Vector had finished fixing the table. Knuckles slowly approached Shadow and offered his hand to him. "I'm sorry for attacking you." He said. "I wasn't in the right mindset."

Misuki smiled as she watched Shadow accept his apology.

"However, I'll still have a close eye on you."

"Feel free to do so." Shadow said, releasing Knuckles' hand.

"Guys, we're reaching our destination!" Tails came over the intercom. "We're preparing to land in ten minutes!"

"That was quick." Sonic said.

"No kidding." Misuki watched Sonic and Vector leave the lounge and head to the cock pit. Misuki took in a few breaths before she could move out of the room.

"Everything alright, Misuki?" Shadow asked, taking a seat next to her on the couch.

"I'm not sure." She admitted. "We're about to return to my father's old lab; the place where my childhood was shattered. I just know there are heavy emotions waiting for me."

"I'm feeling the same way." He said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "We'll walk in there together. Just stay near me and relax yourself. You'll be fine."

She nodded as they both stood up and held hands while heading to the cock pit.

When they arrived, they were relieved that the town had been free of aliens. All of the people must have been evacuated. Looking at the town and the wasteland beside it caused her to become lightheaded before they even began descending. She hung onto Shadow as they touched the ground. Shadow and Misuki got off the ship together. Misuki calmed down once she was on solid ground again.

"So, where is the entrance?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah, how are we supposed to get in if the lab's underground?" Vector added on.

"We should be near the opening." Misuki examined. "So…the access panel should be…" She walked around, tapping all the rock in the area until she came across the right one. "…right here." She pressed it into the ground with her foot until it fully sank into the sand. Two seconds later, the rock emerged from the sand and with it, a patch of sand directly in front of the rock cleared and revealed an opening into a tunnel. "Come on in. Make sure to watch your step." Misuki led the others down into the dark tunnel. The light from the outside lit up a lot of the lab. The moment they hit the hallway, Misuki's head filled with screams of innocent people being slaughtered and the sound of guns being fired simultaneously. She experienced quick flashes of the people trying to run as G.U.N. soldiers rushed in with guns at the ready. The smell of blood and gunpowder filled her nose, making Misuki nauseated. She fell to Shadow's arms as she panted rapidly, her entire body shaking and her face turning pale.

"Misuki, are you okay?" Shadow asked.

She heard him address her, but his voice was muffled to her.

"Daddy…where are you?" She muttered to herself. "Don't let them get me. What's…going on? Shadow…they're after….Shadow."

"Misuki snap out if it!" Shadow gently shook her, causing her to release herself from her short coma and bury herself into Shadow's embrace. "It's alright. No one is after you. It's all in the past."

She soon began to cry uncontrollably as she and Shadow were on the ground. Even in the safety of his arms, the memories continued haunting Misuki. "The voices won't leave me alone. I can hear them screaming; the smell of their blood is filling my nose. It's sickening."

Shadow picked Misuki up and carried her back outside. "Sorry guys. Feel free to look around the facility. The power grid should be down this hall to the left. Misuki needs some air." Once they were outside, Shadow set Misuki down next to the ship and wiped the sweat from her face.

Misuki regained control of her heart and her hands and body stopped shaking. "Their screams….they surrounded me." Her breathing took time to return to normal.

Shadow pulled Misuki's hair from her face and kept a hold of her while she rocked back and forth, holding her head. "Take a deep breath. You can't let your past consume you."

"I know that." Misuki said. "But you can feel it too, can't you? Screams, gunfire, footsteps."

"I can hear them. But I can ignore them because of you. That time was traumatizing for you…but if you allow the past to consume you, it'll harm you in more ways than one. The Emerald's power will destroy your being."

**Shadow: **"Go inside and get yourself some water. I'm going to check on the others." He helped her off the ground and escorted her to the entrance; watching her climb into the Blue Typhoon. Once she was in, Shadow went back into the lab to see what the others were doing. The same flashes Misuki witnessed and felt went right through Shadow, but he was able to brush it off easily. 'The past is strong here. But it's not just my memories…her memories are emanating through these halls as well.' Shadow saw everything through Misuki's eyes; everything she witnessed as she ran to save him. It was becoming difficult for him to stand. He fought to keep his balance and found the others looking around the training chamber.

"Shadow, how's Misuki?" Sonic asked him.

Shadow took a breath while running his fingers through his hair. "Still a bit shaken up. It's frustrating for me because I can't do anything to help her. All I can do is comfort her, but even that's not enough."

"This place must have some very bad spirits." Espio said, drinking a bottle of water.

"I can't imagine how it affects Misuki. The way she acted when she came down here, looked like something from a horror film." Knuckles added. "If she's going to act like this, do you think it's a good idea to stay here? It'll damage her psyche."

"We don't have any other choice, Knuckles." Tails pointed out. "Half the world has been taken over by aliens. There is no other place to go."

"Remember, Misuki's a strong person." Espio said. "She can get through this over time."

"Shadow…"

They all turned around to see Misuki hanging on the wall, slithering against it as she turned into the room and leaned against the opening. Shadow rushed over to her and helped her with her balance. "What are you doing here? Did you really walk the halls on your own?"

"I did." She answered him like it was no big deal, but Shadow could tell she struggled through the halls and had a bit of sweat running down her face. "I figured I should fight against the pain and flashes rather than hiding from them. I have to accept that they'll always haunt me no matter where I am."

Shadow just stared at her, noticing that her body had calmed down and her face had regained its natural tone. He sat her down on the ground near the entrance and leaned her against the wall. Soon he began to experience the flashbacks again. These were a lot stronger because they were coming straight from Misuki. 'There are still flashes coming from her. They're being passed to me, but these are stronger than the other ones.'

"Here's some water, Misuki." Espio gave the rest of his water to Misuki.

She took the bottle and drank the water inside it. The cool water gave a little bit of her life back as a smile slowly formed on her face. "Thanks Espio. I really am starting to feel better."

"Misuki, this facility is really amazing. Everything's back online." Tails said, walking in the training arena with Vector behind him.

"If this place has been shut down for years, how come the power grid can function with no problem?" Vector asked.

"My dad installed a back-up system in case this place got shut down for whatever reason. If we were ever to come back here, we'd have power no problem." Misuki rubbed the dusty ground, embracing the flashes that came with every stroke she made. "This is where you increased your strength and skills every day, Shadow. Your power was incredible."

Shadow stared at her, seeing himself training endlessly in this very area, feeling the rush of battle and punching robots. He began remembering as time passed, he got his energy from wanting to protect Misuki as a child. 'All that went through my mind was getting her approval. If I showed my strength, she'd accept me and open up to me. Over time, it worked.' Shadow lost his train of thought the moment he saw Misuki smiling at him, looking more radiant than ever before.


	22. Fighting through Fear and Chaos

**Twenty-Two: Fighting Through Fear and Chaos**

**Misuki: **Several hours passed since the gang moved into the underground laboratory where Misuki's father worked. Her memory flashes ended after a little while, and she was back to her normal self again. She and Shadow slowly stepped through the halls, holding each other close. Misuki stopped in front of her father's old office. She opened the door and saw his desk covered in dust and spider webs. Most of the books that had been left behind corroded away on the shelves and the floor. Misuki's breath stopped when she saw a picture frame laying face up on the desk with a cracked frame. The picture was of her father, mother and her as a one month old baby. "My mom was so beautiful." She said in a soft voice, allowing one tear to escape her eye.

"You look a lot like her now." Shadow said, standing behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

His touch kept her sanity in check as she took out the photo and held it close to her as they left the office. "How's everyone doing?" Misuki asked. "Have they settled in okay?"

"Yeah. But once again, they're all worried about you."

Misuki shivered after hearing that. She knew her behavior would not only affect her, but her friends as well. 'Not again.' "Where are they all now?"

"They're checking out the equipment. Sonic and Espio are using the kitchen to make dinner." Shadow walked behind Misuki out of her father's office with his hands still clinging to her waist.

"This place seemed a lot bigger when I was a child." Misuki said, taking small steps through the flickering halls. 'Father, I've come home.'

During dinner, Misuki decided to bring up an important topic. "Now that we're settled in, we have to think of a way to stop the black aliens."

"They've already taken over most of the planet." Knuckles pointed out while drinking his apple juice. "Not to mention they out number us."

"That's true, but we have to find some way to stop them." As they talked, Misuki suddenly remembered when Shadow experienced unusual pain the day Rouge took him back to Eggman. She didn't understand why it popped into her head all of a sudden, but she felt that it was something important that had to do with Black Doom. Thinking of all this, she remembered what Black Doom said to Shadow when he revealed himself: _"How quickly you forget, Shadow. I am the one who made you what you are today." _'What did he mean by that? It's no use asking Shadow because he wouldn't know anything about it. But there is one person who might know the answer…Eggman.'

"What do you think, Misuki? Misuki?"

She heard Sonic called her and looked up at him. "Umm…what was that?" she asked.

"I was saying it'd be a good idea to interrogate Eggman about Black Doom. He might be able to tell us everything he knows."

"But the problem is, we'd have a hard time getting to him with the world the way it is now." Tails said.

"We'll have to go through the city because there are Chaos Emeralds still out there. Black Doom could be collecting them as we speak." Knuckles decided.

Misuki remained silent during the rest of dinner, thinking about what they were going to do about the alien invasion and what Black Doom's true intentions were for all of planet Earth. There was no point in her wishing all of this to be a dream or hallucination because she knew better than to wish for something so clichéd and childish. Of course all this was happening. There was no denying it. The proof was sitting right beside her. Shadow was the one that reassured her that the world was crumbling in front of her. His presence was all that she needed to see reality. The only thing she could do is look towards the bright future, when all this is over and everything returned to the way it was.

Shadow and Misuki went off and retired for the night. They had a plan to go back and scour the city and any other part of the globe for stray Chaos Emeralds. Hand in hand, the two walked towards Misuki's old room and let the door automatically slide open. _"Shadow help me!" _Misuki heard her voice echo around her. As the sound of her own voice pierced her ears, an image of her in a stranger's arms with a gun pointed at her flashed before her. Misuki fell back into Shadows arms, where she held him closely. "Shadow, those people are in my head again."

"You mean the guys who took you hostage?"

She nodded as she buried her face deeper into Shadow's chest. "I was so scared. My heart is racing from the mere thought of it."

"That moment infuriates me." He admitted. "The thought of that man putting his hands on you pisses me off."

"I'll get over it. We should try to get some rest." Misuki pulled herself off of Shadow, but kept a tight hold of his hand as they headed towards the bed. The sheets were still soft despite it being covered in ashes, dust and a few cob webs here and there. Misuki brushed the bed off before she and Shadow laid in it.

Shadow took off his jacket, fishnet shirt, Chaos Emerald chain, belt and shoes before lying beside Misuki and letting her rest her head on his chest. "Are you comfortable?" he asked her, resting his hand on her shoulder while tucking the other one behind his head.

"I am. It's just like when I used to sneak into your room. Some nights I would have nightmares, and then I'd run to your room and climb into bed with you. Sometimes you would wake up after I tucked myself in and other times you'd stay asleep and wrap me in your arms in the morning."

"Honestly, most of those nights are hazy." He admitted.

"I know." Misuki yawned after saying that. "We should get some rest." In short time, both Shadow and Misuki began to drift into sleep. Misuki listened to Shadow's heartbeat, along with the rhythm of his breathing. She felt his chest go up and down against her head. It soothed her.

When morning came, Misuki found herself lying on a pillow with the covers over her waist and down. When she attempted to turn over, there was something soft and warm resting against her chest. She opened her eyes to see Shadow's face buried within her breasts. "Umm…Shadow, do you mind moving over?" She poked him a few times, while feeling her cheeks turn the brightest shade of red.

Misuki felt him squirm and slowly open his eyes. It took him a while to realize where his head was. He quickly sat up with his face a similar red-ish color as Misuki's. "Oh…umm…I-I-I…uh…umm…" He stuttered endlessly with a dry throat. "I-I-I…didn't…mean to, umm…you know…"

"It's…fine Shadow. Really." Misuki held the sheets up to her chest, still feeling his breath in between her breasts, making her twitch and tingle all throughout her body.

Tails broke through the awkwardness to deliver shocking news. "Misuki, Shadow, you've got to come to the main lab now!"

"What's going on?" Misuki asked.

"Well…it's better if you see for yourself."

Her heart pounded as she and Shadow got out of the bed and followed Tails. The rhythm of Misuki's heart began increasing as they got closer to the room. Her blood began to run cold and she clenched her fists tightly. Entering the lab, everyone was gathered and silent. Misuki's face quickly turned from confused to shocked and angry as she stared at the monitor to see the commander of G.U.N. She was speechless.

"We meet again, Misuki Hikotsu. And life form Shadow."

Misuki could feel Shadow grab her clenched fist. It relaxed and comforted itself within Shadow's hand. "How dare you." She said under her breath. "How dare you call this line after putting me through hell!" Shadow had to pull her towards him.

The Commander cleared his throat and proceeded on. "Listen, I'm going to just say what I need to say and then allow you time to think about your answer. Our G.U.N. forces are quickly reducing due to the rise of black aliens. Bottom line is, we need your help. We'll send soldiers over there to come and escort you to our secret base…if you wish. I'll leave you all to think about it. When you've made your final decision, call us back. We prefer to have your answer before the day is over. We'll be waiting." He disconnected the call after that.

Everyone was left, swimming in their silence while passing glares back and forth until they all targeted Misuki. Misuki's face was covered by her bangs as she pulled her hand away from Shadow's and let out short gasps of breath.

"Misuki…" Shadow tried reaching out to her, but she pushed him away.

Misuki slapped his hand away and walked out of the room. "They should suffer for the sins they've committed." That was the last thing she said before storming out and returning to her room.

**Shadow: **The way she moved, Shadow knew it was best to let her go and not follow her. Still in the back of his mind, a voice told him to go after her. He ignored it.

"So…what do we do?" Tails asked. "We can't just let the soldiers be killed by the black aliens or the Shadow clones."

"I believe we should at least do whatever we can. But…Misuki thinks otherwise. What do you think Shadow?" Sonic and the others turned to him.

Shadow looked back at them with his usual blank expression. He did feel the same way as she did, but at the same time he wanted to try to make up for causing all of this. His cooperation to Eggman is what led to the creation of the clones. "To be honest…I'm at a stalemate at the moment." He admitted.

"Stalemate?" Knuckles questioned.

"I want to help the soldiers, despite what they did to Misuki and me. But then, there's no way to change Misuki's mind. Deep down, I feel the same way she does."

"Either way, if we don't assist them, then they'll all die one by one." Espio said, with his arms crossed. "If the rest of us are for helping G.U.N., then our only mission is to convince Misuki to help as well."

"Shadow, do you think you can convince her to change her mind?" Sonic asked. "She'll listen to you."

"Again, it's hard because I somewhat agree with her decision. I'm stuck in the middle."

"As much as I don't like you, I'll help you talk to Misuki if you want." Knuckles suggested with his arms folded, leaning his body against the wall beside the monitor.

Shadow glanced at Knuckles, actually pleased that Knuckles had his back. "I…guess I could use your help."

"Then let's go find her instead of just standing here. He gave us twenty-four hours to make our choice." Knuckles walked out the door first, before Shadow slowly followed him to Misuki's room.

Shadow stood beside Knuckles and steadily knocked on the door three times. "Be gentle with her. She's not stable at the moment."

"I know how to talk to her. I've been comforting her while you were busy being Eggman's little puppet."

Shadow ignored his insult, and knocked a few more times. "Misuki, can I come in? Knuckles is with me too. We need to talk." The door slid open to show Misuki sitting on her bed, looking at the photograph she got from her father's office. Shadow was the first to approach her and sit beside her and rub her back.

"Why would he ask for our help after putting my life through hell and then attacking us the last time we came here?" She didn't shed a single tear while she spoke. "What's worse is he acted like nothing was wrong between us!"

"Misuki, you know we can't just let them go out and get killed." Knuckles said, standing in front of Misuki and Shadow. "They need us to help them. And…we need them."

"He's right." Shadow agreed. "There are Chaos Emeralds that we still need to locate, and going out there without weapons is suicide. I don't have enough ammo for my gun, and our Chaos Energy is limited. With G.U.N.'s help, we can increase our fire power and man power."

Misuki stayed silent.

Shadow placed his other hand on Misuki's hand while leaning in and kissing her forehead. He felt strange doing it for some reason, but he saw that it sparked something within her as she looked up at him.

Misuki nuzzled herself within Shadow's arms, setting the photograph down beside her.

Author's Note:

Okay, at first, I wasn't going to put the 'Shadow wakes up in between Misuki's breasts' scene. But during my writer's block, it suddenly popped into my head so I had to add it. Once I put that in there, I kept writing and got over my writer's block. I hope u guys find it funny XD

Please R&R.


	23. Frenemies

**Twenty-Three: Frenemies**

**Misuki: **"I can't be in the same room as those people." Misuki confessed. "It makes me sick enough that I breathe the same air as them. They can handle things on their own."

Shadow and Knuckles both shared the same expression as they stared at Misuki. Shadow hugged her tighter. Misuki could read all of Shadow's thoughts through his touch. She became overwhelmed by emotions, Misuki finally sat up from Shadow and wiped her eyes. "You don't have to speak to them if you don't want to." Shadow said, rubbing her back. "Just hear him out; listen to his strategies and try them out. If you don't like them, then do what you feel is right."

"If you want, we'll leave you alone to think about it." Knuckles said, sitting opposite of Shadow.

Misuki thought about it for a while. "I think that would be wise." She said. "I'll have an answer before dinner."

"Take as long as you need to." Shadow patted Misuki's back before standing up and walking out of the room.

Knuckles gave Misuki one last hug before standing up from the bed. "Do whatever you feel is right." He closed the door behind him, leaving Misuki to lay across her bed and think long and hard about the decision that in her mind could decide the fate of the whole world.

She did contemplate that the group needed outside help, but the people she was being asked to work with were not the kind Misuki wanted to be around for a long period of time.

**Sonic: **Knuckles and Shadow returned and told the others about the short discussion. "So she's thinking about it right now?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, but I'm scared that she'll say no." Knuckles said, rubbing the back of his head.

Sonic let out a breath of stress, and said "Well, there's nothing we can do. Misuki gets the final word. Just give her room, but let's make sure to check on her every once in a while." Sonic walked out of the room past Shadow, patting him on the shoulder before walking out of the room. "You're the main support she needs. She depends on you." Sonic headed outside to get in some fresh air. He cleared his head by taking a well-deserved jog around the dessert to stretch his legs and let the wind blow his problems away. 'G.U.N. needs our help and we need theirs. The longer we sit and do nothing the larger the Black Alien army gets and the more power Black Doom consumes. Misuki…please make the right decision. For your friends…and the world.'

He ran for a good hour before coming back to the lab and grabbing some food. He microwaved some leftover food and ate in the kitchen.

"If you wanted a hot meal, I was about to whip something up." Espio came in behind Sonic with a blank face.

"Sorry, Espio." Sonic said with a mouth full of pasta. He quickly swallowed his food so he could talk. "I just got back from jogging and I needed something to settle my nerves. Speaking of, how's Misuki doing?"

"I think she might be doing better. She's talking to the Master Emerald. I overheard her explaining her life's story to it and asking it to help her make a choice."

"Has she made it?"

"Not yet. But I feel soon she'll come up with a choice." Espio walked past Sonic and began making something to eat for the rest of the group.

Sonic inhaled his pasta and then went to check on Misuki. He stood next to the door and listened to the conversation she was having.

"My father always told me to never hold grudges against people, but I think that's irrelevant if people killed the only family I had along with hundreds of innocent people. That's where I draw the line." There was a pause after that sentence. "I do admit that we need the Commander's help. But…I can't act like nothing's wrong. I'd have to hold in all my anger and not attack all of the G.U.N. soldiers." Sonic heard Misuki giggle a little, followed by a long silence.

He took in a few breaths before knocking on the door. "Misuki, are you okay?"

"You can come in if you want." Her voice responded through the doors.

Sonic typed in the code and let the door slide open so he could walk in to find Misuki standing beside the Master Emerald with her left hand rested on it. She took her hand away from it as Sonic approached her. "I just wanted to check on you." He said. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

"No, you're okay. I was about to come out anyway." Misuki put on a small smile as she stared at Sonic.

He was relieved to see that she'd cheered up a little bit. "Espio's making food if you're hungry."

"I'm not too hungry. But I might get a small portion of food." She told him as they walked out of the room. "My head still isn't clear yet." Misuki admitted.

"Really?"

She nodded. "I'm seriously thinking about what's right for all of us yet my mind won't let go of what happened to me between G.U.N. and I. It's not just the fact that they killed my father and took Shadow away, it's also the fact that the last time we crossed paths they threatened to kill all of you if I didn't surrender myself."

Sonic put his arm around Misuki, shaking her back and forth playfully. "Learn to let it go." He told her. "Like you said, do what's best for the group, as well as the rest of the world. And don't forget…G.U.N. is keeping Amy, Cream and Cheese safe along with the other civilians."

"I guess I almost forgot about that."

"The decision needs to be made quickly before Black Doom takes control of more parts of the planet."

**Misuki: **Sonic put his hand on Misuki's shoulder and comforted her a little. "Espio is making lunch. You should eat something once it's done." Sonic told her.

Misuki nodded. "I will. Thanks Sonic." She smiled at him. "Where's Shadow?"

"I think he's in his room. He hasn't left since after he spoke with you."

"Okay, I think I'll go talk to him before calling the Commander." Misuki turned back to the direction they came from and headed to Shadow's room. She opened the door and found Shadow lying in his bed with his upper body exposed, and his Chaos Emerald unstrapped from his pants sitting beside him towards the wall. Misuki watched him look up as she entered the room and shut the door behind her. "Hey." That was all she could say to him as she stood at the door.

"Hey." Shadow said back, sitting up in the bed. He gestured her to come closer and sit beside him on the bed.

Misuki read his body language and walked towards him, taking a seat on the edge of the bed and grabbed Shadow's hand tightly.

"You look like you're doing better." He said.

"I am a little better. And…I think I made a decision." She said with confidence.

Shadow stared at her with a sense of concern. "Really? What is it?" he asked. Just as he asked that, a knock came at the door. "What is it?" Shadow asked.

The door opened slightly to reveal Vector.

"Hey Vector. What's up?" Misuki quickly returned to her normal self while speaking to Vector. He's been awfully quiet since they came to the lab. She was relieved to hear him speak again.

"Espio's making some sort of herbal soup and wanted to know what side dish you wanted with it."

Misuki thought for a while. "I'll take a salad with salmon in it."

"What about you, Shadow?"

"Deviled eggs."

"You got it." He closed the door behind him, giving Shadow and Misuki their privacy again.

"Anyway, what are you going to do?" Shadow asked his question a second time.

"I'm not telling just yet."

"Huh?" Shadow questioned.

"You'll know my answer when we call the Commander again after lunch." She flashed Shadow her mischievous smile as she stood up and stretched. She then looked over at the concern face Shadow was wearing. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked with a slight chuckle escaping from the back of her throat.

"I…just have a strange sensation. Are you sure you're decision's the right one?"

She nodded at him again. "Completely positive."

Lunch was eaten in silence. Misuki told the others that she had reached a decision of whether or not to join forces with G.U.N., but kept her thoughts to herself and just waited to reveal it when the opportune moment arrived. Misuki looked around her and saw that she was the only one taking her time with her meal. The others were inhaling their food just so they could sooner contact the Commander and hear the choice she made. Even Shadow was rushing through his food, barely taking the time to chew it. He only chewed four maybe five times before swallowing. Misuki couldn't help but laugh silently to herself at all of the expressions her friends had on their faces.

At last, the moment came for them to recall G.U.N. Tails redialed the line that was used to reach them and waited for someone to answer. After two static rings, the Commander showed up on the screen with his frozen face. "Well, I must say I'm surprised to be hearing back from you." He began. "Have you made your decision?"

The air thickened as Misuki took two steps toward the monitor and stared deeply into the Commander's eyes. She took in a deep breath and began speaking. "We accept your offer." Everyone released a gasp of relief and surprise at Misuki's words. But she wasn't finished speaking. "However, I have conditions that I expect you follow in exchange for our help."

"What would those be?" The Commander asked.

"First, you and your men will listen to our plans and strategies when out in the field. We have just as much skills as you do if not more. And the next condition…" Misuki clenched her fists tighter the faster her heart pounded. "…when all of this is over, you have to promise to leave Shadow and I alone. That means the bounty on our heads go away permanently and you let us live our lives the way we wish. I will warn you only once: if you break your promise at the end of this, I won't hesitate to take G.U.N. down out of defense. Do I make myself clear?" She kept the tone of authority in her voice no matter how much her fists shook from rage and nervousness.

The Commander nodded. "I shall honor and agree to your conditions." He saluted her as he continued to speak. "Helicopters have been arranged to pick you up later this evening. Gather whatever you may need and they will escort you to our location."

"Fine by me. Ending transmission."

Misuki cut the line and stared at the blank screen. She took in a breath as she faced the others. "Well…looks like we have to pack everything up again. Let's get it over with. Vector and Knuckles, can you two load the Master Emerald into the ship?"

"Leave it to us." Vector followed Knuckles to get the job done.

"The rest of us will load the rest of the supplies. Let's get this done."

No one said a word as Misuki walked out of the room with Shadow behind her. "What made you come to that decision?" Shadow asked her.

"Like I said before, I thought about what was good for the team. But…this will only go right if they keep their promises to us." Misuki and Shadow grabbed a few boxes filled with food and walked them outside to the Blue Typhoon.

Once they were done, Misuki and Shadow waited outside with the ship until G.U.N. arrived. "They'll be here soon." She said softly, curling her legs close to her chest and locking them with her arms. "I can't stop myself from shaking."

Shadow took a hold of her arm, causing Misuki to look him in his eyes. "If you want, you don't have to say anything to the Commander. You can let me do all the talking."

Misuki smiled at him. "Thanks Shadow. But...this is a fear I have to conquer. Accepting his offer was only step one in putting the past behind me. The next step…is looking my enemy dead in the eye." The air began to blow violently, whipping their hair all around their heads. The two of them stood up and looked up to see five G.U.N. ships approaching their location. 'Looks like the moment of truth…has finally arrived.'


	24. Enter the Danger Zone

**Twenty-Four: Enter the Danger Zone**

**Misuki: **Shadow took a hold of Misuki's hand as the planes landed on both sides of the Blue Typhoon. All of her anger suddenly sunk down to her stomach, making her calm and practically emotionless. She stood lean and tall as the soldiers came out of the helicopters with their guns over their shoulders. They quickly formed a line in front of them and stood in attention as the Commander approached them.

He raised his hand up and said, "At ease soldiers." He stopped in front of Misuki and Shadow. Like Misuki, the Commander wore a blank serious expression. "It's been a while Misuki Hikotsu. And of course Life form Shadow."

Misuki let go of Shadow's hand and took a few steps closer to the Commander. As he did, the others came out of the lab. They all stayed close to the ship. "Before we follow you back to the base, I want to make sure you're absolutely positive that you will remain true to your word." She held out her right hand. "Shake on it, only if you really mean it."

The Commander wasted no time in shaking Misuki's hand. "I'm always a man of my word."

"Fine then." Misuki said, taking her hand back. "We're ready to go."

"You'll be riding in a helicopter with me. Both you and Shadow."

"Why do we have to?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Safety. We could get attacked at any moment. Our priority is to get you and your friends safely to the base."

Misuki glared at him. "Okay, we leave in five." Misuki turned and double-checked everything on the Blue Typhoon.

"Misuki, can we talk real quick?" Knuckles asked. Misuki went ahead and followed him to the other side of the ship so no one could hear them talk. "Can you handle being on a helicopter with him?"

"Shadow will be with me, so I'm sure I'll be okay."

"Even with Shadow there, I don't trust them." He whispered softly. "Just tell them that you're going to fly with us."

"I can't Knuckles." Misuki denied. "This is my way of testing them. I need to make sure that they are as honorable as they claim. Please Knuckles, this is something I have to face."

Knuckles took in a deep breath. "Okay. If this is what you want…" He placed a hand on her shoulder. "…I'll support you. So will everyone else."

"Thanks Knuckles." Misuki ran into Knuckles for a hug.

**Shadow: **"Let's get one thing straight, Shadow." The Commander began, glaring at Shadow. "I haven't forgiven you for what you did to my men the last time we met."

Shadow chuckled. "You say it as if I expected you to forgive me." He shot back. "You were going to kill Misuki and I saved her. You were a threat…I was merely defending myself and her."

"You were working for Eggman at the time." He reminded him.

"That may be true…but during that moment, the Doctor didn't know I was there."

"What?" The Commander gasped in shock. "Dr. Eggman never initiated that attack on us? You acted on your own?"

"You're really catching on, aren't you? Yes, Eggman never knew I saved Misuki from the likes of you. I lied to him and told him I was scouting the area."

The Commander growled at the guiltless look on Shadow's face.

"Listen, I don't have to explain anything to you. All I'm gonna say, is if you do or say anything to hurt her I will come after you personally. Are we clear…Commander?" Shadow looked the Commander dead in the eye.

"Crystal…you freak of nature." He said softly.

"Shadow!" Misuki called out. He backed off as she ran towards him. "Everyone's ready to take off. Everything's packed and on the ship."

"Then I guess we're clear for take-off. Right Commander?"

They stared at each other for a long time before he nodded and commanded the soldiers to re-board the helicopters and prepare for departure. Misuki and Shadow got into the front helicopter with the Commander.

**Misuki: **When they got in there, they were surprised to see Rouge sitting on the opposite end of the door with her legs crossed. "Hi there. It's good to finally see you again."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Misuki asked with one foot in the helicopter. "You work for Eggman!"

"No she doesn't." Shadow interrupted. "She's a G.U.N. spy. She was sent in to retrieve me and bring me back to prison. But when you got captured, she found out about Black Doom and changed her mission."

"If you say so."

"Hold on!" A voice came from the outside of the helicopter. Knuckles ran to the door just before the soldiers grabbed onto the handle to close it. "Let me ride with you too!"  
>"Knuckles, what's going on?" Misuki asked.<p>

"I'm gonna go crazy stressing about your safety. I think you need two close friends with you. Please let me come with you."

Everyone stared at each other until Misuki stood up and reached her hand towards Knuckles. "I could use the security. Climb aboard."

Knuckles grabbed onto Misuki's hand and got into the helicopter and sat next to Rouge, directly across from Misuki. Five minutes later, they all took off with the Blue Typhoon in the center of the formation. Misuki's helicopter was on the left side of the ship. "Tails are you guys okay?" she called in through her watch.

"We're fine, Misuki. Those repairs I did are making the Blue Typhoon run smoothly with little turbulence." He answered with static going through the background.

"Good. I'll check back in a few minutes."

"Copy that."

Misuki held tightly to Shadow as the voyage continued.

"At the rate we're going, we'll be at the base in an hour." The Commander announced.

"While we're up here, we could come up with a plan on how to attack Black Doom and his army." Rouge suggested, flipping her bangs to the corner of her left eye.

"That's not a bad idea." Knuckles commented. "For a double agent."

Rouge chuckled. "You make it sound like my job is bad."

"Well no offense, but you did kidnap me." Misuki pointed out.

"Again, that was to keep up appearances."

The plane suddenly began to shake violently, shocking everyone. Misuki grasped onto Shadow as her breathing increased. "What was that?"

"Sir, it looks like the aliens are attacking us!" The pilot exclaimed.

The Commander opened the door slightly to see flying black aliens surrounding the helicopter. One of them got close to them and sent out a gust of wind, hitting the plane directly. "If this keeps up, they'll shoot us down!"

"Leave it to me." Rouge stood up and grabbed what looked like a jetpack and strapped it to her back. "I'll see how many I can blow from the sky. Misuki, check on your friends. It looks like the aliens are fully assaulting them just as much as they are attacking us."

Misuki nodded and got onto her communicator. "Tails come in! How are you holding up?"

"We're taking on some damage!" He exclaimed, with crashing and grunting going on in the background. "We're trying to fight them off, but our attacks aren't reaching them! They have the advantage up here!"

"Rouge is about to go out and do something about them."

"We'll do our best back here."

"Brace yourselves!" Shadow yelled as he pushed Misuki down to the ground as another alien attacked the helicopter. At that point the craft was slowly going out of control. "That's it! Time to take drastic measures." Shadow stood up and stumbled to the door and grabbed his gun out of his pocket and began firing at the aliens. The smaller ones went down with only one shot, but the bigger ones had to be taken down with two bullets. His small handgun wasn't going to last long; neither were the ammo in his pockets.

He was joined by two of the soldiers in the craft who began firing their MP5's at the aliens. "Sir, they're too many of them! We won't be able to hold them off for much longer!"

Misuki regained her balance and got to her knees. "No matter how many you take down, more will come."

"Then how do we stop them?" The Commander asked in a panic. "We're getting close to the base! If they follow us, everyone is dead!"

"The only way I can think of to get them away is to create a diversion."

"What are you talking about?"

"Distract one, maybe the others will follow!" she exclaimed. "We'll have to control one of the bigger ones. They seem to be the ones in control."

"And how in the hell do you plan to do that?"

Misuki gave the Commander a smug look as she pushed the soldiers and Shadow out of the way and tried to get the attention of one of the big aliens. She formed a small energy ball in her hand and flung it at the creature, making it shriek and look her way. "Over here ya dumb alien! Come and get me!" She waited for the alien to glide closer to the helicopter.

"What the hell are you doing, Misuki!?" Shadow exclaimed.

She didn't answer him. All she did was wait for the right opportunity and then jumped from the helicopter onto the alien and wrestled it for control. She gripped onto its ears and twisted them back and forth until it gave in. "I'm gonna try to get the others to follow me away from you! The ones that don't follow, shoot!"

"Misuki come back!" Shadow shouted.

"I know what I'm doing! Trust me!" Misuki turned the creature away from the helicopter, shooting down a few aliens to get them to follow. She came up to Rouge as she threw bombs at the aliens. Rouge gave her a shocked expression, trying to keep her balance in the air. "Help me herd these things away from the copters! Just keep doing what you're doing!"

"If you say so!" Rouge covered Misuki's flank, firing bombs at the aliens.

Her plan seemed to work. Some of the aliens started chasing after Misuki and moving away from the Blue Typhoon and the helicopters. "Shadow, how're things on your end?"

"The aliens seem to be heading your way. There are a few that are sticking around, but we're taking care of them." He replied back on the communicator.

"Excellent! Rouge and I are gonna see how far we can take these guys. Keep on your toes!"

"Just be careful!"

"I will!" Misuki made the creature go faster as she turned her own body around and fired at the other black aliens following her. "CHAOS ARROW!" Misuki shot a few aliens down and watched them turn to black ooze.

"There's too many of them!" Rouge came up to Misuki's right, throwing three more bombs at some incoming aliens. "We can't take them all down like this!"

"Then how else do we get rid of them?" Rouge knew that this was the only way to get rid of them. All of the aliens had their attention on Misuki and Rouge. On top of that, their numbers have greatly depleted. "There aren't that many of them left! CHAOS ARROW!" Two more were stricken down.

"I'm running out of bombs!"

"Then dodge the herd and get a weapon from the Blue Typhoon! I can hold them off until you get back! We're not that far from the formation! Hurry!" She saw the crazy look Rouge gave her as she swooped below and flew under the alien flock. 'I don't have that much energy myself.' Misuki thought to herself. 'But I have to keep going at them.' "CHAOS ARROW!" After using her power once more, Misuki realized she could probably force her alien to release a wind slash like it did with her back on the helicopter. She made it go faster, made a sharp turn and pulled on its ears to make it straighten its wings as it went into a 360 and created a sharp gust of wind, directed towards the other aliens. Five of them were struck down by the attack.

Shortly after that, Rouge came back firing endless rounds from an MP5 she held in her hands straight at aliens flying towards the rear.

"Great timing girl!" Misuki gave Rouge a thumbs up.

"You're not so bad yourself!" she replied back. "I saw that attack you pulled off!" She turned back around and continued shooting the rest of the aliens until they changed their formation. "What're they doing?"

"Looks like they're retreating!" Rouge replied.

She was right. All of the aliens following them flew higher into the sky and went towards their left. The alien Misuki was riding suddenly began spazzing out and bucked Misuki off and followed the rest of the aliens. Misuki didn't fall too far because Rouge caught her just as the alien flew up. She was able to catch her breath as she held tightly onto Rouge.

"Ya think Black Doom issued the retreat?" she asked Misuki.

Misuki took in a breath after hearing Black Doom's name. "Possibly." She grinded her teeth. There was so much more she wanted to say, but she just kept her mouth shut as they returned to the formation.

Author's Note: Okay…the final battle is almost here. Even I'm getting shivers typing this up and I already know what's gonna happen lolz I just love typing this fan fic and I'm gonna be really sad when this ends

Please R&R


	25. Final Rest

**Twenty-Five: Final Rest**

**Misuki: **Rouge turned her jetpack off the minute she and Misuki were at the door of the helicopter. Misuki touched to the ground a little disoriented from being in the air. She instantly fell into Shadow's arms trying to remember how to stand on her own again. "I'm fine, Shadow."

Shadow helped her to sit down and rest. "What happened out there?"

"They suddenly retreated." She answered.

"Why would they do that?" Knuckles asked. "Did they know we had the advantage?"

"It's not that easy, red." Rouge said. "There were hundreds of them. If Misuki hadn't done what she did, they would've taken us down within minutes. I believe they were called back by Black Doom."

"But why?" the Commander asked.

"And you call yourself a Commander?" Misuki insulted, giving him an annoyed look. "Know the enemy my good sir. It's possible he's setting a trap for us. We have to be smart about our next move. We need to collect the final few Chaos Emeralds roaming around in Eggman's vault."

"I don't think that'll be a problem." The Commander told them.

"What do you mean?" Shadow asked.

"You'll see when we get back to Headquarters." He had a smirk on his face directed at Misuki.

Misuki met his eyes as the voyage continued on. "Did you copy all of that, Sonic?"

"Every word. Can't wait to see what's waiting for us."

The last hour of flight was finally over. They landed in the hanger of the facility. The Blue Typhoon landed outside behind the helicopter hanger. Everyone got off all of the crafts and followed the Commander and his soldiers to the inside of the facility surrounded by walls of titanium and guards at the ready.

"I'll give you credit where credit is due. The high security is impressive." Misuki admitted.

"Glad you're impressed."

"My father would've helped update your system. Our family house has a security system just as good as this one. But, sadly, you guys demanded he be executed for his crimes at wanting to change the world with his ideas."

"Misuki, pull back a little." Shadow had her by the shoulders, whispering in her ear.

The Commander said nothing to that and proceeded on through what looked like a holding cell. "I think he has given us the upper hand we need."

Misuki and the others looked in one of the cells to see a familiar face grinning in the shadows.

"Hello dear friends. Surprised to see me?"

'Will this nightmare ever end?' Misuki thought to herself.

"Finally gave up, Eggman?" Knuckles asked with a cocky smile.

Eggman chuckled. "Don't flatter yourself, kid. As it turns out, I requested G.U.N.'s help and offered the Chaos Emeralds as a peace offering. They just keep me in here for extra security."

"You turned against Black Doom?" Shadow asked.

"Only when I found out his plans."

"Give us more details, Eggman." Misuki stepped up with anger in her voice. "What exactly is Black Doom's plan?"

"Getting straight to business are we? You can be so cold sometimes, Misuki. Shadow's old personality is rubbing off on you."

Misuki punched the cell bars. "Quit stalling! Being in a room with you and G.U.N. has set my tolerance level lower than you can possibly imagine. So give me the information we need. Now!"

Eggman froze for a second, staring into Misuki's cold eyes. He cleared his throat. "If you insist." His voice was calm and collected. "Originally, he told me his plan was to put fear in the heart of humans and offer assistance in building my Eggman Empire. His aliens were going to be the security needed to watch everyone's actions and patrol the streets. But…after seeing this mess, I realized I had been tricked. He used me for my genius and technology in building stronger and more efficient soldiers."

"What are his true plans?" Sonic asked.

"Destroy the humans and merge the planet with the Black Alien's home world: the Black Comet."

Silence befell everyone. Misuki practically lost her breath after hearing the story.

Eggman continued on. "The life energy will be consumed by the Black Comet, leaving the planet withered and lifeless."

"Is the comet on its way?" Misuki asked.

"Judging by how quickly the world has gone to hell, I'd say it'll be here in two to three days."

"That doesn't give us much time to prepare!" Knuckles exclaimed. "With Eggman's Emeralds, we only have six out of the seven! We're missing one more."

"Black Doom has it." Eggman said. "I tried going after it, but it was heavily guarded. I decided to not bother sneaking past the aliens and risk getting caught."

"It'll have to stay there for a little longer." The Commander said. "You and your friends are in no position to go after the aliens and neither are my men. We've set up rooms for you to stay in and also brought your four friends."

"You mean Amy, Charmy, Cream and Cheese?" Misuki asked.

The Commander nodded. "They're waiting for you in the lounge area."

The gang rushed to the lounge, excited to have the group joined together again. The second Sonic opened the door, Amy jumped on him with tear filled eyes chanting his name over and over. Cheese and Cream ran towards Misuki laughing and hugging her.

Misuki took both of them in her arms not able to express the joy in her heart. "I'm so glad you guys are okay!" she exclaimed.

"We're happy to see you too, Misuki. We were afraid you guys weren't gonna make it."

Cheese followed Cream's comment with a few coos.

"Misuki, are you guys close to defeating these gross aliens?" Amy asked, walking up to Misuki with Sonic beside her.

"Sort of." She answered with a sigh. "All we need is to get the final Chaos Emerald and then hit Black Doom where it hurts."

"We don't have much time either." Shadow chimed in. "The city is crumbling to nothing. Soon, there will be no city for the people to return to."

"Well I don't know about you…" Knuckles began, leaning against the doorway. "…but I say we go out and retrieve that last Emerald ourselves. I'd rather have all of this over and done with."

"For once, I agree with Knuckles." Shadow said, crossing his arms.

Misuki wanted this disaster to end just as quickly as everyone else, but after calming herself from her outbursts against the Commander and Eggman, she began thinking about what their next move should be. "Even if we wanted to settle things on our own, this place is heavily guarded. The Commander probably gave orders to the troops to watch our moves and not let us leave the facility." She then looked up at a surveillance camera that was aimed directly at her. "They're treating us like prisoners but giving us all of the hospitality they can."

"You got that right, missy."

Everyone watched Rouge enter the room with a blank expression, standing beside Misuki while glancing at everyone in the room. "The Commander is prepared for any plan you guys have of escaping this place."

"Have you forgotten that we're more skilled than any of these trigger-happy idiots patrolling this place?" Knuckles said, stepping into the room. "What's stopping us from knocking them on their asses and leaving this place?"

"For once Knuckles, we have to comply with G.U.N.'s decisions."

"Are you serious, Misuki?" He asked in frustration.

Misuki nodded her head calmly while folding her arms and hugging her body. "I don't like sitting around anymore than you do. But in the condition we're in right now, we are no match for Black Doom. We'll rest for a while and then think of a plan of attack." She glanced over at Shadow to see he had the same expression as Knuckles. But the only difference was that Shadow was more reckless than Knuckles and would go on a rampage no matter what anyone said.

Sonic finally broke the silence with a long sigh. "I'm with Misuki and Rouge. There's not much we can do right now."

"I do want to fix up the ship a bit." Tails jumped in, pulling out a monkey wrench from his tool belt. "Just to keep it running smoothly. Plus I've been working on a little surprise for you Misuki."

"Really? What is it?"

Tails chuckled while twirling the wrench in his hand. "If I tell you, it's not a secret. But trust me, you'll love it."

"I'm looking forward to it." She smiled as he left out the door.

"If you want, I can show you to your rooms." Rouge said. "Of course, Misuki and Shadow will be sharing a room. Most of you will have roommates. Our space has decreased since everyone was brought here. But it should still be comfortable for you."

Rouge guided all of us towards the lower levels where the other civilians were, along with small apartment-like rooms. Misuki and Shadow's room was three doors down the hall on the left. They were on lowest floor. The number on the door read 1-3-8. "Here you go." Rouge opened the door for us and let us step in. The place did feel like home. The living room had a couch against the wall on the left wall big enough for two, and a modern-looking television with a DVD player attached to it. Beside the couch was a doorway that led to a bedroom with a queen size bed with plain black sheets and pillows. Across from it was a red wood dresser with golden handles and knobs. "This place is really nice." Misuki said, rubbing the doorway. "I gotta give it to . They really know how to treat civilians during a world crisis."

"Thanks a lot. I'm sure the Commander will be glad to hear that from you." Rouge said.

"Yeah, let's not tell him I said that."

"Will you two be okay?" Knuckles asked, staring at Misuki.

She walked over to him and hugged him. "I'll be fine."

"You guys are across the hall two doors down." Rouge explained.

"That actually makes me feel better."

"Well, we'll let the two of you rest. Play nice you two." Rouge winked as she and the others left the room.

Both Misuki and Shadow stood there blushing. "Well…I guess I'll go ahead and take a shower." She twirled her hair, staring at Shadow from the side.

"Sure. But what will you change into?" Shadow asked.

Misuki walked over to one of the closets to find long white night gowns and shirts. "I guess we can settle for these until we can unload the ship." She picked a gown and a towel before going into the bathroom and starting the shower.

**Shadow: **Shadow listened to Misuki sing to herself in the shower. He sat on the couch, staring at the ceiling. Later on he pulled out the charm bracelet Misuki made him and looked at it. _"Shadow…papa!" Misuki ran to them laughing. She pulled two small beaded charm bracelets from behind her back and smiled as she showed them to Shadow and her father. "I made them myself! They're charm bracelets"_

_ "Where are the charms?" Her father asked. _

_ "The beads are the charms." There were a few beads hanging from the bracelet. "See, they're the same except with different color patterns and charms." Misuki gave one to her father and then the other to Shadow. "Whenever you wear them, they connect you together. I even made one for me!" She pulled out an extra one from her dress pocket and tied it around her wrist._

_ Her father put his on and then petted Misuki's head. "They're beautiful, Misuki. I will cherish it for the rest of my life."_

_ Hearing that from her father made Misuki giggle. She then looked over at Shadow who was having trouble putting it on. "Here Shadow, let me do it." She took the bracelet and tied it in front of his ring band. "There you go. It looks good on you. Do you like it?"_

_ She watched him stare at it for a while before he looked down at her and knelt down in front of her. "I do like it. It makes me happy that you were thinking of me."_

_ Misuki smiled as she ran into his arms and hugged him. "Shadow…"_

"Shadow…Shadow." He felt Misuki poke him on the forehead, causing him to snap out of his daydreaming. "Hey are you okay? You were zoned out." She handed him a glass of milk. "Here, you should keep yourself hydrated." She gave it to him and then sat down beside him, drinking from her cup. "What made you stare at that charm?"

"I don't know." He slipped it back in his pocket and took a sip of his milk. "Honestly, my memories have come back to me since I got back with you."

Misuki snuggled against Shadow. "That makes me happy."

Shadow wrapped his arm around Misuki, watching her slowly fall asleep right there. He smiled while feeling her shoulder go up and down. He began remembering a few times Misuki would fall asleep in his lap when she was a little girl.

"It's finally done." A voice came into the room. It was the spirit of young Misuki standing in front of Shadow. "You two are reunited. This is such a cute sight."

"It's you." Shadow wasn't surprised to see the girl, yet his grip on Misuki tightened slightly.

"Yep, it's me." She skipped over to Misuki and twirled her hair. "Wow, I can't believe I turned out this cute. I wish my hair grew out a little longer." She stopped messing with Misuki and just smiled at her.

"Umm, question…what exactly are you?" Shadow asked. "You've been following me this whole time. Where did you come from?"

Young Misuki giggled and answered his question with a happy tone. "I'm energy made from the Master Emerald."

Shadow's eyes widened after hearing that. "You're…from the Master Emerald?"

She nodded. "A while back, Misuki wished that she'd be with you again. Her wish was so strong that the Emerald created me from her subconscious to haunt you and lead you to the right path. Now that your bond has been reformed, I can go back to the Master Emerald." Young Misuki began glowing a brilliant green and stared to vanish slowly. "Shadow, you have no idea just how far Misuki will go to keep you by her side. Since you two got back together, I've heard you say that you would never leave her side and never let her cry again. I'm holding you to those vows. Keep her close, Shadow. You're lucky to have someone like her love and care for you."

Shadow looked down at Misuki as she fidgeted a little bit in his arms. "I will honor my vows to her. Thank you." He gave her a smile.

Young Misuki giggled and smiled as she became more transparent with every second. "Well, take care." She finally vanished.

After they were alone again, Shadow got the blanket that was spread on top of the couch and used it to cover Misuki and himself. He wasn't tired so he just continued to stare at Misuki.

_ "Shadow, are you really a weapon?" Misuki asked him while he was giving her a bath before bed._

_ "Yes I am. Why do you ask?"_

_ "Well, you don't seem like a weapon." She said, splashing in the water while Shadow washed her back. "Weapons are scary and they hurt people." She glanced over at Shadow with her childish eyes. "You can't be a weapon because you don't hurt anyone unless they try to hurt me or my papa."_

_ Shadow smiled. "Well you are right. Weapons do hurt people. But the real truth is…it's not the weapon that's bad."_

_ "Really?"_

_ He nodded while rinsing her off with a wet cloth. "The weapon's purpose depends on the person holding it. The military for example use their weapons to protect people. While there are those who abuse weapons and take advantage of people."_

_ "Like how those bad men tried to kidnap me? One of them held a gun to my head. But you came in and saved me."_

_ Shadow wrapped little Misuki in a towel and lifted her out of the tub. "That's right. Those men are cowards and feel they will be seen as powerful if they have guns." He started to dry her off with the towel, starting with her hair and then down her body._

_ "I'm glad you're not a bad weapon." Misuki said. "You'd never use your powers like those bad men would you?"_

_ "No. I wouldn't."_

_ "Promise me." Misuki extended her right pinkie as Shadow wrapped the towel around her. "Promise me that you'll never use your skills for bad things."_

_ Shadow chuckled as he wrapped his left pinkie with hers. "I promise."_

'I guess I broke that promise to her.' He thought to himself. 'But I've been given a second chance to make things right with her. I won't screw it up.' Just after he finished his thoughts, a frantic knock came to the door.

Misuki squirmed as she slowly opened her eyes. "What's going on?" she asked while yawning.

"I'm about to find out." Shadow stood up once Misuki was fully off of him. He opened the door to see Knuckles. "You better have a damn good reason for waking Misuki up."

"Knuckles, is everything okay?" Misuki came from behind Shadow with the blanket still wrapped around her.

"Tails just found a black alien ship heading this way!" He exclaimed. "Sonic went to tell the Commander. We gotta keep them away from the facility."

"How did they find this place?" Shadow asked.

"The bird things!" Misuki exclaimed. "Maybe they attached a chip or something."

"That's exactly what it was." Knuckles said. "Those sneaky bastards bugged us!"

"We can worry about that later." Shadow said. "Let's go take care of this situation and finally end this!" The three of them ran down the hall and towards the elevator that would take them straight to the Commander.

Author's Note: We're getting close to the final battle X3 Things are gonna get intense real soon. Oh also, I bet you didn't expect young Misuki to be a manifestation of Misuki's wish, did ya? Teehee, that was my own little twist! Anyway, look forward to the next chapter (^w^)/ Bye for now!

Oh yeah, please please please R&R! Every time you do, I get a cookie ^^


	26. Mistaken Identity

**Twenty-Six: Mistaken Identity**

**Misuki: **The four of them headed towards the tech room where the Commander and Tails were waiting for them. "How bad is the situation?" Knuckles asked as they looked up at the display monitors.

"Those things are tougher than we thought." Tails said. "Vector and Espio went out there to help some of the troops, but I'm not sure how long they'll last. You all have to go help them before it's too late!"

"Don't worry. We'll get rid of them! Leave everything to us!" Sonic said running back out in a gust of wind. Knuckles followed behind him along with Shadow.

"I'm coming too!"

Shadow stopped Misuki before she could step out of the room. "Misuki, I think it's best if you stay here." He told her.

"But…I want to make sure you're okay and don't get mixed up with those clones!" She continued begging while forcing herself past Shadow.

**Shadow: **Shadow managed to push Misuki back and calm her down before taking off his jacket and putting it around Misuki's shoulders. "Hold onto this for me. No one will mistake me for the clones like this." All he was wearing was his fishnet shirt and his black pants with the green Chaos Emerald chained to his hip.

She finally agreed. "You better come back, you idiot." She pouted.

Shadow chuckled and kissed her on the forehead, instantly feeling her face becoming warmer with every second. "I have my charm bracelet. I'll be just fine."

"Shadow." The Commander walked up to Shadow with something in his hand. When it opened, it was extra ammo for his gun. "I thought you might need these. Be careful out there."

He took the ammo and loaded his gun with three of them before stuffing the others in his right pocket. "Thanks, Commander. I'm counting on you to watch out for Misuki. Do I have your word?"

"Leave everything to me." He said, saluting Shadow.

"Tails, I'm counting on you too. You're the main body guard."

"You can count on me, Shadow." Tails took the same pose as the Commander.

Shadow nodded and turned back to Misuki. "I have to go now." He told her. "I won't allow them to get close to you, Misuki. I am your protector and savior." The look in Misuki's eyes made Shadow smile a little bit and made it hard to move from his spot. Finally he pushed himself out of his position and began dashing out the door until the rockets in his shoes activated, allowing him to make a skating motion down the hall.

Half-way through the hall, Knuckles was fighting off five clones and more kept coming up. "Knuckles, get out of the way!"

Knuckles saw Shadow pull out his gun and aim for the clones. He quickly jumped out of the way while Shadow fired a few shots in their heads. After the clones were dead, they stopped sprouting up. "Thanks a lot, Shadow. It is you right?" he asked.

"If it wasn't, you would be dead right now."

Knuckles growled but calmed himself easily. "Anyway, Misuki's safe right?"

"She's with Tails and the Commander. She's okay. What about Sonic? Is he on the front line?"

"As usual. We better hurry on and help him." Shadow followed Knuckles down the hall, running into numerous clones on the way. More showed up as they got closer to the front line. It wasn't long however until a horde of them surrounded Shadow and Knuckles. "Damn, what now?" Knuckles asked, pressing his back against Shadow's.

Shadow managed to run down half of the clones before breaking them free. "I'll go help Sonic. I need you to hold things off here while I'm gone. Do you think you can do that?"

"Leave it to me. I'll be there as soon as I can!" Knuckles punched two clones at the same time, allowing Shadow to go on ahead. "You better pull through, Shadow!" he shouted.

'Like I have a choice.' He made a sharp turn around a corner and got ambushed by a few clones. Shadow quickly re-loaded his gun and fired two shots at the clones. Both were struck in the head and disintegrated right as Shadow passed them. Just as he did so, a rocket flew directly at Shadow. He managed to dodge out of the way with a narrow space between him and the rocket as it flew down the hall and exploded. Once he was on his feet again, he aimed his gun at the end of the hall. "You almost hit your target." He said in a casual tone.

A clone came out of the shadows with one hand in his pocket and the other hanging out. He had a grin on his face as he looked at Shadow. "Of course I expect nothing less from the original. It's a pleasure to meet you at long last…Shadow."

"You're definitely not like the others." Shadow said. "You're not mindless."

The clone chuckled. "That's because…I'm not made from Eggman's robotic skeleton. I'm one of the first original copies made purely from Black Doom's dark energy. I do agree that the other clones are brainless and are only capable of attacking their target. Which is why…compared to them, I'm a perfect model."

"We'll see how perfect you are once I'm done with you." Shadow charged at the clone and fired a few rounds at him. Once he was close enough, he tried hitting the clone in one of its vital points to disorient it but he failed. The clone easily dodged every one of his bullets and blocked his attack. "What the hell!?"

The clone chuckled as he grabbed Shadow's arm and kneed him in the stomach before throwing him against the wall. He watched as Shadow coughed up a bit of blood and laughed. "Is that really all you've got, Shadow? If so then impersonating you is going to be mere child's play."

Shadow gasped as he attempted to rise back to his feet. "What did you say?"

"You heard me correctly." The clone said while flipping his bangs. "As far as your friends are concerned, this whole ambush is a trap."

"A trap!?" Shadow's eyes widened even more.

"Step one was having the other clones create a diversion, making you and your friends come out and fight on the front lines. To be honest, this isn't how things were supposed to go. You were supposed to be at the front instead of you blue-haired friend. But oh well. Anyway, step two is to have as many of the clones hold your friends as long as they can so you'd be alone. Step three, which is the fruit of the plan: switch me out with you, kidnap Misuki and claim her Emerald and yours so Black Doom can have enough power to take control of this planet."

The second Misuki's name was mentioned, Shadow made a full recovery and retaliated with numerous attacks which were easily blocked by the clone. "If you go anywhere near Misuki, I'll end you!" Shadow managed to get one good hit in before backing up. "I'll make sure your filthy hands don't touch her!"

The clone laughed at that statement. "That's funny coming from you!" he exclaimed after laughing. "Your hands are just as filthy as mine. You yourself once worked for the Doctor and hurt many people in your path."

"That may be true, but still…I've abandoned that part of my life and put everything into protecting her. Plus…she's able to look past my sins and love me the way she always has. While it's true that I'm not worthy of her, I'll continue to be by her side and give my life for her!" Shadow became a blur and attacked the clone endlessly, hit after hit. He shot him a few times with his gun, but they hit in the shoulder and leg.

The clone was able to push the bullets out of its body and turn the holes into mere bruises. "Is this really the best you can do? How pathetic!" The clone finally showed his full potential and slammed Shadow onto the ground and then kicked him a few times until he was lying on his side. The clone then took off his jacket and threw it on top of Shadow after also taking his Emerald. While he did that, more clones surrounded Shadow. "Don't worry Shadow. You're precious Misuki is in good hands with me. Also, I'd like to thank you for wounding me. This will just make my acting more believable. Take him to the ship." The clones picked Shadow up by his arms and teleported him to the black alien ship where he laid unable to move.

**Misuki: **"All of the cameras have been disabled, sir!" Tails announced while typing away on the keyboard. "Is there a back-up system anywhere?"

"There are, but those have been taken out as well." One of the soldiers said. "We're completely blind. The clones could be on their way here and we wouldn't know it."

Misuki sat in the corner with her charm bracelet clenched in her hands, along with Shadow's jacket. 'They'll come back. All of them.' Once again, she found herself fighting back her tears which enraged her. "I can't sit here anymore!" she exclaimed as she stood up. "I'm going to help them! Shadow needs my help…I can feel it." She attempted to walk out the door as she slipped Shadow's jacket on.

The Commander grabbed her shoulder before she got too close to the door. "Do you honestly believe going out there will make the situation any better?"

"Do you have a better idea? Unlike you, I'm actually worried about Shadow and the others. I'm also worried about your men. Most of them could be injured and we have no idea."

"I trust my men." He said, pulling Misuki away from the door. "The ones who are not injured will help the ones that are and move them away from the battle. Not to mention your friends Espio and Vector are there to get the injured to safety and heal them."

"You make it sound like it's easy! I don't doubt Vector and Espio, but we can't be sure they haven't been attacked! Someone needs to go out there and check on the situation!"

"Misuki, the Commander is right." Tails said, stepping away from the computer. "Our vision is completely gone and Shadow and the others haven't responded to any of our transmissions."

"Shadow turned his communicator off." Misuki looked at her communicator with a sad expression. Finally she nodded. "I guess you're right. It would just be stupid of me to go out there and make things even worse. I'm just so tired of being useless to you guys!" Everyone stared at Misuki as she buried herself in Shadow's jacket, waiting for tears to fall. Surprisingly to her…they didn't. "I'm sick of being the damsel in distress. Shadow goes out of his way to protect me and so do the rest of you. The only times I actually felt like a hero was when G.U.N. surrounded us and demanded I give up my life…" She gave the Commander a hard glare to make sure that memory replayed in his head at that moment. "…and when I used my body as a shield to save Shadow from Black Doom. Just as you guys would give up your lives for me, I'll do the same for you."

Tails approached Misuki and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You've been more helpful that just those incidents, Misuki." He reminded her. "You've encouraged all of us to take risks we never would have. You're also there to cheer us up whenever we doubt ourselves."

"Thanks Tails."

"Misuki, come in! Can you hear me?" Shadow's voice came from Misuki's communicator along with some static.

"Shadow, you're okay!"

"Yeah…Knuckles and Sonic are with me. Sonic's hurt pretty badly. We're almost at the tech room! Let us in!"

"Okay!" Misuki ran towards the door and pressed the button to open it. Shadow and Knuckles were there helping Sonic limp through the door way. "Oh my god, Sonic!"

Sonic just gave them all a thumbs up and a smile. "I'm fine guys, honest. They're just a few bruises."

"You still need to be looked at." Knuckles said.

"Are all of the clones gone?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, they retreated." Shadow said. "The soldiers are being taken to the infirmary."

"That's where Sonic needs to go. Knuckles and I will take him." Tails helped Knuckles take Sonic to the infirmary.

While they did that, Misuki approached Shadow with his jacket in her hands and a red tint on her face. "Here Shadow." She handed him the jacket. "I'm…glad you're okay."

Shadow smiled at her as he took her in his arms and hugged her tightly. "I'm glad you're safe too." His voice was low and seductive to her ears.

Misuki did not want to let him go. But she forced herself to after he grunted a bit from some of the bruises on his body. "You should go to the infirmary too, Shadow. You took on some damage yourself."

"I'd feel better if you healed my wounds yourself." He told her.

Misuki lost the words she was going to say as Shadow held onto her hand. "Umm…yeah sure. Let's go." Misuki twined her fingers in Shadow's and led him back to the room where she bandaged his wounds. While she worked on a wound on his left forearm, Shadow grunted in pain again. "I'm sorry, does it hurt that bad?"

"A little." He said while grinding his teeth. "The medicine just made it burn."

"That feeling will pass." She told him. "The stinging means it's already working. Just leave it alone while I go and get some more bandages." Misuki walked over to the kitchen and got some extra bandages from one of the dressers. 'Why is my heart racing like this?' she asked herself. 'Maybe it's the thought I had after he left that I'd never see him again. I shouldn't ever think like that.' She took the thought out of her head and returned to Shadow and continued working on his wounds.

After an hour of working on him, she got two glasses of milk for her and Shadow. She sat beside him on the couch, fidgeting from irritation. "Are you alright, Misuki?" he asked her.

"Shadow…do you think I'm…useful?"

"What do you mean?"

She took in a breath. "Tails reassured me that I'm an important person in the group, but I'm still having doubts that I'm doing enough to help you guys out." She took a drink of her milk to calm herself. "I should've been out there helping you." She stroked his bandages with a sad expression. "Some of these scars and bruises should be mine. Seeing you, Sonic and Knuckles covered in wounds made me feel guilty that you guys gave your all for the citizens, G.U.N. and me. I…want to be more helpful to you guys."

"Don't be guilty, Misuki." Shadow took Misuki's hand and moved in closer to her. "I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt." He moved in and began to kiss her neck and shoulder while running his fingers through her hair, then down her back. It wasn't long before he attempted to pull her shirt down.

Misuki did enjoy the feel of Shadow's breath and lips on her neck but then pushed Shadow off of her and stood up to readjust her top and cover her chest area. "What are you doing Shadow?"

He stood up with her and walked closer to her. "I thought maybe you needed to loosen up after what happened. Having thoughts like you not being helpful to the group will cloud your focus in the next battle." He moved more towards her until he had her by the shoulders.

Misuki tried struggling out of his grasp. "This isn't like you, Shadow! Please stop!"

"Trust me, Misuki once we get going you won't want to stop."

'What the hell is up with him?' Misuki stared at Shadow and then finally came to a conclusion that shocked her. "You're not Shadow! You're a clone!"

Shadow hit Misuki in the back of the neck, knocking her out cold. The clone chuckled as he held her in his arms. "And here I was beginning to think you'd never figure it out." Those were the last words Misuki heard the clone say before she fully blacked out.

Author's Note: Okay, we're almost at the end! Honestly, I thought of this chapter while I was typing…chapter ten or eleven I believe. I figured it would add more drama to the story and lead it into the final battle. I finished this in two days. One of them I stayed up until 2 a.m. typing the battle between Shadow and the clone. The rest I finished the day after. I was actually happy to come out of my writer's block and finish this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it and are sad that this story is almost over T~T

Please R&R and I'll see you soon.


	27. Moving On

WARNING! WARNING! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SPOILER ALERTS FOR THE FINAL STORY IN THE GAME "SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG". IF YOU DON'T WANT IT SPOILED FOR YOU, PLAY THE GAME BEFORE READING! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

**Twenty-Seven: Moving On**

**Shadow: **'This is…the Black Comet.' Shadow thought to himself while examining the prison bars.

"Are you comfortable Shadow?" The clone walked up to the cell and mocked him. He chuckled as Shadow gave him an angry look while letting out a low growl. "Do you intend to break out and save the world? Do you believe you can stop Black Doom?" He then let out a loud taunting laugh. "You can't do anything! No matter what you do, Earth is going to be destroyed and everyone will blame you!"

"Wait till I get my hands on you!" Shadow gripped the bars tighter, leaving a dent where his fingers were.

The clone continued laughing. "I wouldn't do anything stupid if I were you. Especially since we now have all of the Chaos Emeralds…including your little girlfriend."

Shadow let go of the bars, realizing that Misuki was in more danger than he thought. He knew Black Doom needed the Emeralds for his plan. But the big question was…what would happen to Misuki if he activated their powers? 'Misuki…I'm sorry.'

"Silent now, are we? Don't worry about her." The clone told him. "She still has a few moments left before Black Doom utilizes his plan."

"Leave her alone!" Shadow yelled out. "I'm begging you to let her go! Don't let her suffer like this!"

"I'm afraid that's not my decision to make." The clone said with a smile on his face. "Whatever Black Doom plans to do is his business. The rest of us do what he orders us to do. All you can do is sit back and enjoy the show." With that said, the clone walked away and left Shadow with his thoughts.

Shadow sunk to his knees, blaming himself for not protecting Misuki like he said he would. 'I can't sit here and feel sorry for myself. I have to save her. I can't let her end up like…Maria.'

"Shadow…"

Shadow heard a voice call his name. He looked behind him and saw the spirit of Maria floating there. She was wearing a light blue dress with a matching head band. "Maria…is that really you?"

"Yes it's me. I'm glad you remembered me."

Staring at Maria made Shadow regain all of his forgotten memories of her and what happened aboard the ARK. "I do now." He said as she stood up. "When I fell to Earth, I was awakened by some scientists. But…I had no memory of what happened previous to that. I forgot about you and…Professor Gerald."

Maria walked towards Shadow and touched his face. "I saw everything that happened." She said while smiling. "You met another girl and fell in love with her."

Shadow felt the warmth of Maria's hand flow throughout his body, filling him up with the strength he needed. But there still lingered a bit of regret and sadness for forgetting her. He wanted to apologize to Maria but didn't. He knew that she already forgave him just by gazing into her eyes. "You and her share the same innocence. Even your touch…" Shadow placed his hand over hers.

"Shadow…don't let history repeat itself." She warned him. "If you really love this girl the same way you loved me, then go after her. Protect her with your life."

Shadow continued staring at Maria, feeling her words sink in and cause his heart to beat faster and faster. "Thank you, Maria. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. Your death was all my fault."

"No it wasn't, Shadow. I was the one who pushed you into the escape pod and set you free. I didn't want them to take you away from me." Maria shed one tear while still holding a smile. "I sacrificed myself so you could fulfill your purpose like grandfather programmed you to do. Now that you have your memories back, you can do that and start a new life with Misuki. Remember Shadow, I am always with you. Good luck." As she vanished, Maria let out one last giggle that echoed in Shadow's ears for a long while.

Shadow continued staring at the spot Maria was just in. He let everything replay in his mind as well as what the future would hold if Black Doom succeeds with his plans to destroy the world and all that live upon it. "I won't let the past repeat itself. I won't let the darkness consume me again." Shadow performed Chaos Control to get out of his prison and appear at the end of the hall. "Misuki is close. I have to get to her." He activated the rockets in his shoes and skated as fast as he could through the Black Comet, killing black aliens that got in his way.

The structure of the comet made it so that other living beings couldn't move around. There were streams of a thick black liquid that burned the flesh off of the victim. Shadow got some dripped on him as tentacles rose from it and tried to drag him under. His left shoulder jacket vaporized. He felt a small sting from the last drops that made contact with his skin, but it left no mark on him. Along the way, Shadow picked up weapons dropped by the black aliens and used it against them after learning how they worked. He didn't hesitate in using it on anything that crossed his path, including barriers that blocked him from different areas. A swarm of aliens attacked him at once when he got closer to Black Doom's location. Shadow's rage built up, allowing him to use Chaos Blast and destroy all of them with ease. It burned him out a bit but je was able to continue on.

"I must congratulate you for making it this far, Shadow."

He found his clone blocking his way. Shadow let out a low growl while concentrating on his movements to predict any attacks.

The clone paced around, watching Shadow slowly follow him. "Why are you fighting for this girl and the other humans like her?" he asked. "Don't you remember how they all rejected you? They didn't give a damn about you. All of them silently judged you; disgusted at the fact that you were trying to be like them."

Shadow didn't let the clone's words sink into him. Instead, he held onto Maria's voice and alternated with Misuki's. His mind was filled with early memories of him and Misuki. Her laughter echoed in his head.

"What's wrong? Realizing that you've wasted all your life protecting humans?"

Shadow chuckled. "You think what you said is affecting me? You couldn't be more wrong."

"What are you taking about?"

"I'm no longer blinded by anger and darkness."

The clone took one more step before launching himself towards Shadow and attempt to attack him. Shadow countered his moves just as quickly while keeping a distance from him. Shadow had an easier time fighting him than before due to his clear conscious. The clone backed away from Shadow, struggling to stay on his feet while coughing up black slime. "How the hell…are you able to defeat me with such ease?"

"It's simple; I know what I'm fighting for." The image of Misuki's smiling face popped in his head the instant he said that. He found himself smiling slightly while letting out a soft sigh. "I'm fulfilling my promise to Misuki and her father. I swore that I'd stay by her side and protect her, whatever the case may be."

"I don't want to hear it anymore! DIE!" The clone's fist launched from his arm and locked onto Shadow. Soon a cloud of smoke appeared around them. "You keep preaching about how you're going to save that wench! Yet you let her fall into our hands and now you're going to let the same thing happen to Earth! You're pathetic, Shadow! I'm disgusted that I was created from you! As of right now, I'm the original Shadow! You're nothing." The clone went crazy with rage as he took his other arm and fired endless rounds of bullets towards the cloud of smoke where Shadow stood.

"CHAOS SPEAR!"

In all of his rage, the clone didn't hear Shadow call out for his Chaos Spear. By the time he did, it was too late. The beams of light pierced his body, letting the black substance drip to his feet. "This…can't be."

The cloud of smoke cleared and Shadow emerged without a single scratch from the blasts. His expression was calmed as he watched the clone collapse to the ground clenching the three holes in his stomach. "You could never become the original." Shadow told him. "You're weak and irrational. You let rage and power guide you to where you are oblivious to the strong wills humans have."

"Damn…you…Shadow." With those last words, the clone finally disintegrated and turned into black goop on the ground. Shadow stared at it with no thoughts in his head.

"Hey Shadow, over here!"

To Shadow's surprise, Sonic, Eggman, Knuckles, Rouge, and Tails came running up to him. "What're you all doing here?" he asked.

"Well we thought we'd get a grand tour of the black comet…what do ya think!?" Knuckles said in a sarcastic tone. "We're here to get Misuki back and help you defeat Black Doom!"

"We're her friends too." Sonic added. "So we're allowed to worry about her just as much as you do."

"What about you, Eggman?" Shadow questioned. "I bet you're here to try and snag the Chaos Emeralds."

Eggman let out a snort before speaking. "Well, that's one reason. The other reason is to help stop Black Doom! If he destroys the Earth, then I can't build my empire."

"You won't ever build it as long as we're here to keep you in check fuzz-face!"

"Would you two knock it off!?" Rouge exclaimed. "Misuki is still in danger. Or have you forgotten?" She proceeded ahead but Shadow blocked her path. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

"That's supposed to be my line." Shadow gave her a stern look. "I can handle Black Doom on my own. I don't want to put anyone else in danger. I'll be fine on my own."

Knuckles rushed in front of him, scowling like he always did. "You know, I'm just about sick and tired hearing you go on and say you can handle things and you don't need us. Well I'm not gonna sit by and take it anymore! We didn't ask you if it was okay to help you save Misuki and the planet, we were telling you we are going to help you whether you like it or not! Quit acting like such a bad-ass rebel and say just once that you need us!"

Everyone was quiet after hearing Knuckles rant at Shadow. Even Shadow was somewhat speechless. Finally, he let out a soft chuckle and said, "You win." He placed a hand on Knuckles' shoulder and smiled. "I do need you. Just make sure not to do anything too stupid."

"I was gonna say the same thing to you." Knuckles joked.

"Knuckles…thank you for taking good care of Misuki. I'm very grateful."

"Don't thank me. Let's hurry on there!" They all rushed through the final obstacles that stood between them and Black Doom.

Shadow felt more powerful now that his friends were there fighting beside him. He was actually happy to call them friends…except for Eggman of course. He was gonna get revenge on him after all of this was over and done with.

When they finally arrived at Black Doom's location, Shadow saw Misuki floating unconscious with the other Chaos Emeralds. Her body was glowing a bright red.

"You finally made it, Shadow." Black Doom chuckled. "Now the ritual can begin."

"I'll be damned if I let you destroy the planet! Release Misuki and the Chaos Emeralds now!"

"Ignorant fools…we wish to save the humans from their own demise."

"What are you talking about!?" Shadow couldn't take his eyes off of Misuki who twitched every once in a while from the coursing energy that ran from her to the other Emeralds, passing it to one another. He saw sweat run from her forehead from the intense heat of power.

"The humans are on a path of self-destruction through greed, desire for power and betrayal of each other's trust. With our perfect order, they will be given a chance to live their desperate lives in peace. And because they are a valuable energy source, they will be well kept."

"You're out of your mind!" Knuckles shouted.

"Let the ritual…begin!" Misuki and the Emeralds began to move towards Black Doom's hand and glow brighter than before. "CHAOS CONTROL!"

Misuki screamed as the energy pulsed faster through her body and finally burst with a blinding light.

"Misuki, no!" Shadow called for her as they were teleported through time. "This…can't be happening!"

When the light cleared and the shaking ended, the Black Comet was on Earth. It began rooting itself into the Earth, causing even more destruction than there was before. "What just happened?" Tails asked.

"I don't believe it!" Sonic exclaimed. "Those Black Creatures just warped the comet to Earth using Chaos Control!"

"But, that's not possible!" Rouge commented. "Is that why Black Doom needed the Chaos Emeralds?"

Black Doom enjoyed the looks on their faces when they realized his power. "You are correct. The comet's velocity isn't powerful enough to pass through another planet's atmosphere. When all of the Emeralds are together, it amplifies the space-time control power of Chaos Control. This is all thanks to Professor Gerald."

That name caused a quick shock through Shadow's mind. 'Professor Gerald was the one who created me. He was…Maria's grandfather.' "But…how are you involved in my creation?" he asked him.

"While he was in development of the ultimate life form, the professor ran into some problems during the final process. That's when he asked for my help. We made a deal; if I helped him complete his project, he'd deliver me the seven Chaos Emeralds. That…is how you came to be, Shadow."

"Are you saying Professor Gerald, sold out his own people for research!?" Eggman almost went crazy.

Shadow fell to his knees now that he knew how he came to be. "I…don't believe this. Professor…why did you…"

"Enough talking!" Knuckles exclaimed. "I'm gonna crush that cosmic rock ball into dust!" Knuckles lifted his fist in the air, preparing to punch the ground. But instead something happened and his body froze in place.

Everyone looked at Knuckles in concern. "Knuckles, are you okay?" Sonic asked. Soon he himself froze and so did the others. "Hey…I can't move! What's going on?"

"It is our special weapon. This gas causes total paralysis on the nervous system. The end is near." Black Doom let out another laugh. Afterwards, he released some larva on Shadow and the others. "My offspring. Eat and devour these savory dishes!"

They swarmed on everyone, attempting to nip at them. They all yelled in panic, feeling the larva's cold clammy exterior on their bodies.

Shadow, frozen in place because of the toxic gas, recapped everything that led up to this moment. Voices overlapped one another in his head. His eyes were closed as he matched images with the correct voices and scenes. _Shadow…help me. _He heard both Misuki and Maria say that line together. That was the last line he heard in his head before he broke through the paralysis and stood up, stomping on one of the larvae that approached him.

"What?" Black Doom was surprised that Shadow was able to stand up.

"I am Shadow." He announced. "I've put the past behind me. No one can tell me what do now! I create my own future!"

"How dare you! I gave you life and this is how you repay me?" Black Doom chuckled. "The irony of it all is…I gave you life, now I shall take it back!" He laughed while floating away.

"Shadow, go after him!" Rouge exclaimed.

"You're our only hope. Save Misuki and Earth." Sonic told him.

Shadow quickly took off after Black Doom. 'I won't let him have his way.' He was even more determined than before to catch Black Doom. Going through more black creatures and clones was child's play. "I refuse to let anything stand in my way!" _One day I won't be around. I want to make sure Misuki has someone to look up to. Promise that you'll always be with her. _"I promise Dr. Hikotsu. I'll protect Misuki with everything I have." _No matter what bad thing you'd do to me Shadow, I'll always forgive you. You mean so much to me. _'I let her get taken away. This is my chance to make everything right.'

He finally reached Black Doom, but got distracted when he saw Misuki's unconscious body lying on the floor. Shadow ran to her and took her in his arms, shaking to wake her up. It was useless.

"Don't bother to wake her." Black Doom said while chuckling. "I extracted the energy from her Chaos Emerald, putting her in a deep sleep."

Shadow growled while laying her back down and standing up.

"I'm impressed, Shadow. You managed to get this far." Black Doom watched as Shadow began to walk closer towards him with a murderous intent. "Hmm…you still do not understand what we are offering. Our future is the only option for the humans."

"I've heard enough out of you! You're boring me to death, Black Doom! You're going down!"

Black Doom chuckled. "Such bravado for someone who let himself be used to betray the ones he loved."

"Shut up!" Shadow exclaimed. "I'll make you pay for what you did to Misuki, her friends and the Earth itself!"

"Shadow, you and I are more alike than you think. The same blood runs through our veins."

Shadow stopped the moment he felt his head pound rapidly. He soon collapsed to the ground, cringing in pain. The force spread throughout his body while grinding his teeth. 'This…pain. It's like…before.'

_Shadow had just finished his weekly training session that monitored his skills and programming. He waved at Misuki who was watching from the observatory with her father. Suddenly he felt his head pulsate several times. He grunted while holding his head._

_ "Shadow, what's wrong?" Dr. Hikotsu asked. _

_ He didn't answer. Instead, something made Shadow go out of control and destroy everything in his path. The scientists that tried to calm him down were stuck against the wall._

_ The Doctor tried talking to him to snap him out of it when he saw Misuki run towards Shadow. "Misuki, get away from him!"_

_ Misuki approached Shadow with frightened eyes. "Shadow please stop this!" she grabbed onto his hand and hugged it tightly. "Don't hurt anymore people, Shadow! We're your friends!" Not even her words reached him. Shadow flailed his arm until Misuki was launched through the air and slammed against the wall head first. She was already knocked out before she fell to the ground. Once her body hit the ground, Shadow came to and saw what he did._

_ He slowly walked towards Misuki, recognizing the damage he had done. "Misuki…" He attempted to reach for her until the Doctor spoke out._

_ "Stay away from her!" Dr. Hikotsu pushed Shadow out of the way to check on his daughter. "Look at what you did. All of this is your fault!" He held Misuki in his arms while yelling at Shadow. "I expected more out of you."_

_ The scientists locked Shadow back in the pod that they found him in and left him there. Everyone was too afraid of him, so he never got to explain himself or even apologize for his actions._

"This pain…is like that day. I hurt Misuki, and they sealed me back in the pod because they all thought…I was a threat. Black Doom…you…you had something to do with that. Didn't you?"

Black Doom nodded, feeling pleased with himself. "After I allowed Eggman to join me, I had to find your location. Making you lose control like that was a way for us to monitor your brainwaves and track you down."

"Just…who are you?"

"Don't you know? You were created from my blood!"

"N-No way!"

"Yes, you are a part of me. As long as I control you, you cannot escape me or your past."

"Damn you! This…can't be!" Shadow continued cringing on the ground, feeling the pressure increase with every minute that passed. 'I…won't let him…use me again…I can't…give in."

Author's Note: PLEEEAASSE FORGIVE ME! I know I took too long with this chapter but so many things happened and I barely had any time to work on it! College is such a pain sometimes, especially when you have to prepare for midterms and have projects and essays to work on.

Also just to avoid this from happening again, I am warning all readers that I will not be posting a new chapter until after November. In case some of you don't know, November is "National Novel Writing Month", where you basically write a novel in 30 days with at least 50,000 words. This is my first time participating and I wanna see how far I can go with this. I will take breaks and work on the next chapter, but don't expect it for a month unless I actually finish my novel ^^

Again sorry for the long wait, hope you enjoyed and I hope this didn't spoil the final story of "Shadow the Hedgehog". But to be fair…I warned you at the beginning ^^

Please R&R

Oh and feel free to complain to me about taking forever on this chapter. I deserve it ^_^;


	28. Super Shadow

WARNING! WARNING! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SPOILER ALERTS FOR THE FINAL STORY IN THE GAME "SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG". IF YOU DON'T WANT IT SPOILED FOR YOU, PLAY THE GAME BEFORE READING! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

**Twenty-Eight: Super Shadow**

**Shadow: **'Misuki…Maria…Professor Gerald…Dr. Hikotsu…I'm so sorry.' Shadow continued to struggle against Black Doom's control. He was still able to keep his thoughts clear despite the pain that shot through his head. 'All of this is my fault. I wasn't there to protect you. I couldn't…' He looked back at Misuki's body as he let a tear escape his eye and roll down his face.

"Shadow, my son."

Shadow looked past Black Doom the moment he heard the Professor's voice call to him.

Behind Black Doom appeared images of Professor Gerald. "If you're listening to this, then the worst has happened. You need to know the truth. The government plans to cease all of our research…and imprison all who know about you. I made a mistake Shadow. I made contact with that comet, so I am to blame for all that has happened! Now listen carefully…the Black Comet will return in fifty years. They plan to harness its powers to destroy the planet! The only way to stop them was to develop a way to use the very power they intended to use against them! Shadow…it's up to you. You are the only one who can save the planet! The Eclipse Cannon is the only weapon that can destroy the Black Comet. The future of this planet depends on you."

After he finished explaining everything, Maria appeared in the shot. "Don't worry grandfather! Shadow and I will protect this planet. Right, Shadow?" The image then vanished.

Shadow felt his body shaking as he absorbed everything the Professor told him.

"Gerald, you fool." Black Doom chuckled. "Shadow is already in my control…what's this?"

Shadow stood up, breaking free of Black Doom's control.

"Well, well, well, it seems you are immune to my mind control."

"You have no control over me, Black Doom. I now understand why I am here." He clenched his chest, thinking about all the people who cared for him. "I made a promise…and I intend to keep it. Today, I put the past behind me!" Shadow lunged towards Black Doom, but he teleported, leaving Shadow with the Chaos Emeralds.

Black Doom's voice soon echoed around him. "Have it your way, Shadow. Prepare to meet your maker! Your past, present and future ends here! Say goodbye as you witness my true wrath!"

"Not if I can stop you." Shadow called the Emeralds, which descended around him, transferring their power into him until his hair spiked up and glowed a brilliant golden yellow. His clothes turned the same color. He felt the power of all the Emeralds coursing through his veins. Once he was powered up, he walked over to Misuki and took her in his arms, which made her wake up shortly after. "Are you okay, Misuki?"

Misuki looked up at him and was surprised to see his new look, as well as the swelling power he had gained. "You came for me." She said with a smile. "I'm so happy to see you again." She hugged him, as he let her feet touch the ground again.

"I'm happy to see you too. Now I have to stop Black Doom." He took his gun out of his holder and gave it to Misuki. "Take this and go help the others. Then find a way off the comet."

**Misuki: **Misuki held the gun in her hand and looked up at Shadow. A part of her told her that this was the last time they were going to see each other. But she didn't let that process in her mind and make it a final judgment. All she did was nod. "Just promise you'll come back in one piece."

Shadow smiled. "I'll try."

Misuki nodded as she began to run towards the others.

"Misuki, one more thing." Shadow grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her closer to him.

As she turned around, her lips made contact with Shadow's which stopped her heart for a long time. Her eyes were wide as she was wondering if this was actually happening. She soon came to the conclusion that it was definitely real by the warmth of Shadow's embrace. Her body melted into liquid and she could barely stand on her own. They slowly pulled away from each other. "Wow…" That was all Misuki could say as her cheeks turned red.

"Just in case I don't make it." Shadow told her. "I love you…Misuki."

Tears swelled in Misuki's eyes as she watched Shadow ascend into the air. "I love you too. I'll wait for you!" She couldn't take her eyes off of him, but she forced herself to proceed on where the others were.

By the time she got there, they were all free and had just gotten rid of the last larva. "You're all okay!" Misuki ran over and hugged Knuckles and then Sonic.

"We're glad you are too." Knuckles said. "Where's Shadow?"

"He…went to face Black Doom."

"Can he do it on his own?" Tails asked.

"Of course he can do it." Eggman answered condescendingly. "My grandfather made Shadow to use the Emeralds to their full potential. He has transformed himself into Super Shadow."

"Super Shadow." Misuki looked up, feeling the energy from Shadow. 'I can feel him. The final battle is about to begin.'

"Shadow can handle Black Doom!" Sonic reassured everyone. "Right now, we've gotta get off this comet…and fast!"

Knuckles looked at Misuki. "Misuki, can you perform Chaos Control?"

"I'm…not sure." She answered. "I can try. Everyone get close, hold on to each other and don't let go." Misuki closed her eyes and focused on a part of the city that was safe for them to watch the battle. She found a spot and locked onto it. "Here goes nothing. CHAOS…CONTROL!" In an instant, they were safely back on the ground and out of danger; sort of. Misuki fell to her knees from exhaustion.

Knuckles and Rouge stayed by her side. "Take it easy, hon." Rouge told her.

"I'm okay." She said in a weak tone. 'Shadow, we're all depending on you. I believe in you; we all do.' They all looked up into the sky and could sense Shadow's energy as he fought against a new bigger and more powerful Black Doom. "Black Doom's power has increased exponentially." Misuki said. "I hope Shadow doesn't run out of energy before he defeats him."

"All we can do is hope." Sonic responded.

**Shadow: **"I shall make you pay for defying me, Shadow!" Black Doom exclaimed while unleashing meteors towards Shadow. "You may have harnessed the power of the Emeralds, but you are still no match for me!"

Shadow dodged the meteors and Black Doom's attacks fairly easy. "I won't give up so easily, Black Doom! My friends are safe, so there's no need for me to hold anything back! CHAOS SPEAR!" Shadow fired several of his Chaos Spears into Black Doom's eye, causing him to roar loudly in pain. He waved his hand in an attempt to knock Shadow off balance and catch him off guard. But Shadow quickly got out of the way, punching a meteor towards Black Doom. Shadow fired more Chaos Spears at Black Doom, slightly weakening him.

"I seem to have underestimated the power of the Emeralds." Black Doom grunted. "No matter. You'll all die the same. CHAOS CONTROL!" Black Doom teleported further away, in an attempt to lure Shadow to him. "Now…die along with the other pathetic humans!"

Shadow rushed towards Black Doom and continued his attack on him. "You won't get away from me that easily, Black Doom! CHAOS SPEAR!" He fired a few more Chaos Spears, but it missed its target as Black Doom swiped them away with his hand. "Damn it!" Shadow was distracted for a short second and was hit by a meteor. He got pushed back a little, but managed to recover before the next attack. 'I don't know how much longer I can hold out.' He felt his energy slowly draining.

Black Doom saw that Shadow was slowing down. "What's wrong, Shadow? Don't have the strength to fight me?"

"Don't count me out yet, you bastard! I can still defeat you before my energy runs out!" Shadow decided to perform a technique that could possibly be the thing that would sap the rest of his energy. 'If I can't defeat him with it, I can at least weaken him. Here goes nothing.' Shadow concentrated all of his power into the center of his body until the golden glow mixed with his red aura. Finally he released it in one blast. "CHAOS…BLAST!" Everything around him had a red tint as the explosion engulfed everything in its path. When Shadow examined the damage, he saw that Black Doom was barely fazed by the attack while he himself was drained and hanging on by a thread.

"All of that effort for nothing." Black Doom laughed. "It's over! My victory is assured!" Black Doom prepared for one last attack that would destroy Shadow.

Shadow was slumped over, trying to hold on even though he didn't have the energy to move his body. 'I'm sorry, Misuki. I…couldn't protect you.'

**Misuki: **A sudden pain shot through Misuki's chest, making her stand up and clench her chest tightly to compress the feeling.

"Misuki, what's the matter?" Knuckles asked her.

It took Misuki a while to find her breath as she continued to look up into the red sky. "Something's wrong with Shadow." She said in a soft voice as sweat ran down her face. "He just used a massive attack but it didn't work."

"That was the Chaos Blast." Eggman explained. "Normally its power is so immense that it expands for miles and destroys anything consumed by it."

"But because Shadow put almost everything he had into the attack, it left him completely drained." Misuki felt her entire body shake. "I have to do something. This isn't the end." Misuki closed her eyes and tried to focus on the Emerald inside of her while praying to the Master Emerald to fill her with the strength to help Shadow. 'Master Emerald…please bestow upon me the power of the Chaos Emeralds.' The atmosphere around Misuki became heavy as her body began to glow a brilliant red and her hair blew through the energy that swirled around her. 'I am your servant. I do your will. In return I ask you to grant me the strength to save the Earth. GIVE ME POWER!' In an instant, Misuki became consumed within the energy she was conjuring until it filled her body completely. She wore a beautiful red flowing dress that split on both of the sides, showing Misuki's bare feet as she used her new power to lift into the air. "I'm coming Shadow. I won't let you die!"

The energy that surrounded her allowed her to breath in the vacuum of space. Directly in front of her, she saw Shadow floating there, barely conscious. Black Doom was preparing to launch an attack. "Oh no! Shadow!" Misuki rushed over to Shadow just as Black Doom let his attack go. "CHAOS SHIELD!" Misuki came in just in time, putting up a barrier around her and Shadow, neutralizing the attack.

"How dare you interfere with our battle?" Black Doom addressed her.

Misuki didn't say anything to him. Instead, she turned her attention to Shadow and held him close to her. She transferred some of her energy to him and watched him slowly open his eyes. All she could do was smile at him. "Everything's okay, Shadow."

"Misuki…how did you…" When he had enough strength to support himself, he looked at Misuki and took her hands in his.

"I asked the Master Emerald to give me energy so I could give it to you. I'm not going to let you give up." The shield began to give out as Misuki struggled to sustain what little energy she had left.

Shadow held onto her as her red glow faded in and out. "What's happening?"

"It's…alright." She strained. "This power wasn't meant to last. Use your newfound energy to destroy Black Doom once and for all. Misuki's body was once again consumed by a ball of energy that burned Shadow's hands and forced him to let go of her.

He watched her fall back down to Earth. "Misuki!"

"I'll be okay, Shadow! Hurry and fulfill your promise to Gerald and Maria!" That was the last thing Misuki said before she used the last bit of her energy to perform Chaos Control and landed safely back with the others and in her regular clothes that were now tattered and torn. Sonic quickly went to her side and lifted her off the ground. "We're counting on you…Shadow." She whispered while her eyes were still closed.

**Shadow:** Shadow could still feel Misuki within his arms. He felt her spirit merge with his, giving him the motivation and power he needed to finish this battle. "I won't let you down, Misuki. I won't waste your gift." He looked up at Black Doom with more rage in his eyes than before, fueling the energy that surrounded him.

"No matter how much energy you gain, you're still no match for me! I will be the victor of this battle!" Black Doom sent more meteors and energy balls towards Shadow, but he quickly avoided them by using Chaos Control. "Impossible!"

His speed was incredible. Shadow kept a clam expression during the final stages of the fight. He reappeared directly in front of Black Doom. "It's over, Black Doom. Your reign of terror ends here!" Shadow held out his hand in front of Black Doom. "CHAOS…SPEAR!" It was a point blank attack that made Black Doom lose his balance.

Black Doom felt his body giving out on him. "No! I can't let it end like this!"

'I have more than enough energy to perform the Chaos Blast again. This time…it will work.' "CHAOS…BLAST!" Shadow unleashed another mass explosion that was even more powerful than his first one. Black Doom was swallowed up by it in mere seconds and eventually burned to a crisp. He let out one final shriek as his body became nothing but ash that scattered throughout space. Having come out the victor, Shadow returned to Earth and prepared to destroy the Black Comet. "Only one thing left to do..." He got underneath the comet and placed both hands upon it, focusing his energy on him and it. "…put the past behind me! CHAOS…CONTROL!" Shadow warped the Black Comet back into space, in direct line of the Eclipse Cannon. Shadow boarded the ARK and activated the cannon, blasting the comet to dust. "It's…finally over." He looked over his shoulder to see images of Professor Gerald and Maria smiling as they faded. "I did it, Professor." He huffed. Shadow didn't have a lot of energy left to get himself back to Earth on his own, but he had an idea. If Misuki could call on the Master Emerald for help…then so could he. "Master Emerald…I am a part of you. You are a part of me. Please allow me to return to where I truly belong: beside Misuki and my new friends." He closed his eyes as he collapsed to the ground. Before he hit the ground, he felt his body become weightless and everything around him turned blurry until it faded.

**Misuki: **"Are you sure he landed around here, Misuki?" Knuckles asked, looking under some rubble for Shadow's body.

"I know he's here! Keep looking!" She had to believe that he made it back to Earth. Misuki felt his presence at the last minute after the comet exploded. 'He has to be here. He promised he'd come back to me.' She climbed on top of a pile of rubble and spotted a body lying on top of a crumbled building. "I think I found him!" Tears swelled into her eyes as she ran towards the body and saw it was indeed Shadow. "Shadow…Shadow can you hear me? Please open your eyes!" She lifted his head off the ground, pushing his bangs out of his eyes. "You can't die on me." She said as tears fell down her dirty face. "You promised you'd come back alive. Don't leave me."

Underneath her embrace, Misuki felt Shadow's arm twitch slightly. She then looked to see that his eyes were half open and he was trying his best to smile as he lifted his arm to wipe the tears from her cheek. "There's no reason… to cry anymore." He strained to speak. "Everything is…okay now."

Misuki smiled, triggering more tears to flow endlessly. "You did it, Shadow. I knew you would."

"That was a gutsy move back there, pal." Sonic said. "But you managed to pull off an amazing defeat! Way to go!"

"Nice going, Shadow." Rouge said while winking.

"I gotta hand it to you Shadow, you are one reckless bastard. That makes you A-Okay in my book." Knuckles said.

Out of nowhere, G.U.N. helicopters began to swarm around them. The second the planes landed, soldiers came out and circled Misuki and Shadow. Misuki watched as the Commander came out with his hands behind his back.

Misuki held Shadow close to her, using her body as a shield. "I knew you'd go back on your word. If you want to hurt Shadow, you have to go through me." She kept a serious expression, holding on to the Commander's gaze.

Author's Note: I know you all were dying from waiting for an entire month for the second to last chapter ^^ Well…this may be the third to last chapter depending on how much I can condense into the next one.

Anyway, the next chapter will be my x-mas present to all of you ^w^ In the meantime, please R&R and have an awesome Christmas and a rockin' New Year!


	29. Covering the Wounds

**Twenty-Nine: Covering the Wounds**

**Misuki: **"Do whatever you want to me but I won't let you lay a single finger on Shadow." Misuki kept her eyes on the Commander and the soldiers as they all lined up in front of her and Shadow.

Her muscles relaxed when they all saluted to her and said "Thank you for your help! Well done!"

The Commander stood in the center with a small smile. "I am a man of my word. All criminal charges against you will be dropped. Also as a bonus, I'd like Shadow to work for G.U.N. as an undercover agent. You and Rouge will be working together."

"Did you hear that, Shadow?" Her tears changed to glistening joy.

"Hey, Eggman got away!" Knuckles exclaimed, looking around the area. "That sneaky bastard!"

"No need to worry." The Commander told him. "We'll execute a man-hunt for him in no time. But right now, Shadow needs medical assistance." He ordered some soldiers to come in with a stretcher, and loaded Shadow on top of it.

Misuki watched him get taken to a helicopter. She looked back towards the others who were boarding a separate helicopter and then looked over at the Commander and approached him. "Commander, is it alright if I stay by Shadow?"

He just stared at her with a blank look.

"Please sir, I want to support him."

He exhaled and nodded. "I guess I can't refuse you after everything you've done for us."

Misuki smiled at him. "Thank you so much!" She boarded the helicopter, taking Shadow's hand as the soldiers placed an I.V. in the opposite arm. Once they were set, they took off.

"You don't have to worry about me, Misuki." He told her. "I'll recover in no time."

"I know you will. It's just…" Her voice cracked a little bit. "…I remembered when you were shot in the back and you were unconscious. I'm afraid if I leave your side, you won't make it."

Shadow smiled at her as he took his hand from hers and wiped oncoming tears from her eyes and then ran his fingers through her hair. "I'm sorry, Misuki."

"Sorry for what?" she asked him.

"I let that imposter get passed me, impersonate me and then hand you over to Black Doom. Both of those bastards touched you. At that moment…I felt so weak. I couldn't protect you."

"That's not true." Misuki reassured him. "You came for me; that's all the proof I need to know that you love me." She looked out the window, feeling the weight of the past lift into the clouds and dissolve. One of the clouds took the form of Maria. She smiled and muttered words that made Misuki pause for a short moment. _Thank you._ She nodded at her as the cloud reshaped itself and drifted with the others. 'Do you see now, father? Shadow isn't bad like you and the others assumed.' She turned her attention back at Shadow who had closed his eyes for a while. 'A wise man once said that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Because of one accident…you and the other scientists judged Shadow as being a violent weapon built only to kill. But now you see that you were wrong. He practically gave his life to protect me and all of planet Earth.' Misuki went back to when Shadow lost control and threw her against the wall, bruising her on the shoulder and back. Her hand went to her shoulder, remembering how big it was and how long it took to actually heal. 'I never blamed Shadow for all of the bad things he did; I never hated him. Because of my feelings for him, he was able to overcome his hardship and become accepted by others. And…he confessed his love for me. That was the spark of light that reassured me that everything was going to be okay.'

Misuki was surprised when she looked back out the window half an hour later to see the white house below them. "Why are we at the white house?" she asked the Commander.

"The president wanted you and your friends to recover in his home. He wishes to thank you and your friends for what you did for us. He also said something about wanting to meet the daughter of one of his close friends."

"Close friends?" The helicopter landed in the field. When the doors opened, paramedics took Shadow from the vessel and rolled him towards the white house. Misuki proceeded to follow him when a soldier blocked her. "What are you doing?" she asked, trying to get passed him.

"I'm sorry, but you can't follow Shadow." He told her.

"Why not?"

"The doctors are going to put him through some medical tests. They don't allow visitors in the room."

Misuki looked at him with sadness mixed with anger. She continued to try to get passed him. "I want to be with Shadow! Let me go! Shadow!" She struggled against him and another soldier that attempted to back him up.

"Hey, what's going on?" Knuckles asked as he, Sonic and the others got off their helicopter transport.

"Your friend wants to be with Shadow during his examination, but we can't allow her to." A soldier told them. "She's getting out of control."

As Misuki continued her tantrum, Knuckled came up behind her and grabbed her shoulders. He turned her around to face him. "Misuki, calm down. You're going to push yourself too far if you keep this up." Knuckles told her.

"I don't care! I want to go with Shadow. He…he needs me."

"He'll be fine, Misuki." Sonic reassured her. "For now, you need to get some rest."

She shook her head while attempting to break free of Knuckles' grasp. "No, I have to be with Shadow!"

"Misuki stop it!" Knuckles held onto her, realizing that she was burning energy that she didn't even have. "You're going to strain yourself!"

"I don't care! I don't want to be away from Shadow again! He…" her body soon became numb and eventually she blacked out.

Misuki found herself standing ankle-deep in water so clear it reflected the blue sky and white clouds above. "Where…am I?"

"You're really stubborn."

Misuki quickly turned around to see a blonde-haired girl in a blue dress. "It can't be…Maria?"

She walked towards Misuki with a smile. "Maybe that's why you and Shadow are so perfect together."

Misuki tried to form something to say, but nothing came out.

Maria chuckled at her stunned silence. "What's wrong?"

"Umm…nothing. It's just I'm…surprised to see you." She continued to look at her surroundings. "Am I…dead?"

Maria giggled. "No, you passed out from straining your body. This is only an illusion you're having. This was an opportunity for me to see you in person…well sort of."

"You wanted to see me?" she asked.

"I wanted to properly thank you for staying by Shadow." Maria took Misuki's hands and shook them. "I'm happy that someone else understands him and his feelings. In the beginning, Shadow was confused about his purpose. He felt that if he came to Earth, he'd find the answers."

"Well…he found it." Misuki said with a small smile. "Of course, he had to go through a lot of crap to find it."

Both of them laughed at that comment. "But because of you, he was able to fight his own darkness and find who he really was."

Misuki nodded.

"Maria, it's time to go."

Misuki looked past Maria to see an obese man with a long mustache similar to Eggman's, wearing a white lab coat and small round glasses.

"I'm coming, Grandfather!" Maria called back to him. She turned back to Misuki and released her hands. "Looks like I ran out of time. Promise that you'll always look out for Shadow."

Misuki smiled and said, "Don't worry, Maria. I'll never leave Shadow's side."

"That makes me happy. I'll be able to rest easily with that fact." She began to walk backwards towards her Grandfather. "I'm glad Shadow, Grandfather and I got to meet you. I wish the two of you a long and happy life together!"

The softness of a pillow and blanket slowly brought Misuki back into the real world. The room she was in was decorated with beige and maroon colors. The sheets were made from pure Egyptian cotton. Misuki slowly sat up, feeling instant dizziness in her head.

"Don't get up too fast, or you'll collapse again." Sonic said, standing at the end of the bed with his arms crossed. He went beside her and sat on the edge of the bed. "How do you feel?"

Misuki placed her hand over her head and rubbed it, feeling some of the pain lift from her. "Honestly, I've been better. How long have I been out?"

"Only half an hour."

"What about Shadow? Were they able to heal him?"

Sonic chuckled while placing a hand on Misuki's shoulder. "They said he'll be okay. Right now he's resting in the recovery room. You'll be able to see him soon."

All she could do was nod. She wanted to get out of that bed and see Shadow. But after what happened to her a while ago, she decided it wasn't the best idea to do so. Her body still hadn't gained all of its strength back and she wasn't about to have another black out.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Sonic grabbed a cup from the table on the opposite side of the room and brought it to Misuki. "The doctors gave you this to drink. It's some tea with flavorless medicine mixed in. They said that if your head is pounding at all, it will make it go away and also give your body the nutrients it needs to regain lost strength."

Misuki took the cup from Sonic and drank from it. It was still warm and calmed all of her muscles. "Wow, I can feel it working." She said while taking another sip. "That reminds me, how's everyone else doing?"

"Since our wounds weren't as bad as yours or Shadow's, we were given simple medicines and gels for our wounds." Sonic held up his left arm to show her what minimal damage he took. "The only ones who walked out of there with barely any damage were Rouge and Tails."

"That's good. I'm glad everyone's okay. How about Amy and the others?"

"They're being transported here right now. They'll be here in a bit. I'll let you rest." Sonic got up and walked towards the door. "The Commander said he'd come and get you later."

"Okay. Thanks for staying with me, Sonic." Misuki finished her tea as she watched Sonic walk out of the room waving. She began thinking about the illusion she had about Maria. 'It seemed…so real.' She remembered the feel of Maria's soft hands. They were comforting and warm. Her feet also seemed damp from standing in the water. 'Whether it was real or not, I will keep my promise to her. Shadow…I hope you're doing okay.'

A few minutes passed when a knock came to the door. "Come in."

The Commander opened the door and walked in. "Are you feeling better?"

Misuki smiled at him. "Yes I am." She answered. "I'm sorry for my behavior."

"Don't worry about it. I came to escort you to the oval office if you feel better."

"Why?"

"The president wants to talk to you. Please follow me."

Misuki kept her eye on the Commander as she got out of the bed and took the bandages off her head. She followed the Commander down a long hallway in complete silence. They soon came to a tall wooden door the Commander opened to reveal the oval office. She felt her heart skip a beat as she stepped into the office. "Oh my god. I never thought I'd ever see this place." She ran her hand along the president's desk. "Where's the president?"

"He's on his way now. He'll be right with you. Excuse me." He left Misuki alone in the oval office.

Misuki couldn't stop looking around at the diplomas. She also looked at a few of the photographs sitting on his desk in clear frames. One of the pictures that caught her eye was one of her mother and the president when they were teens. Another next to it was both her parents and the president. "My parents knew the president?"

"I more knew your mother than your father." The president came into the office with a smile on his face.

When Misuki set her eyes on the president, she quickly put the photo back in its place and stepped away from the desk. "I'm sorry for looking through your things sir!" She bowed to him, heart racing and a little bit of sweat running down her forehead.

The president chuckled a bit. "Don't worry about it." He told her. "It's amazing how you look exactly like your mother. But you definitely have your father's eyes."

Misuki rose up and watched the president go to his desk and look at the photos. "So…how do you know my mother?" She asked, standing next to him as he gazed at the photographs.

"Your mother and I have known each other since middle school. We were science partners. She had a hard time in class, so we spent a lot of time after school doing homework together."

"And my father?"

"We didn't meet until college." He answered. "If I remember correctly, we both signed up for the debate team and got in. Hey, do you want to hear something interesting?"

Misuki nodded.

"I was the one who introduced your parents to each other."

Her jaw dropped to the floor. "You're kidding."

He nodded while giving her a sly smile. "Your mother and I were juniors and your father was a sophomore. The second they met each other, a spark lit between them." His expression instantly changed to slight depression as he thought of the past. "When I first heard of your mother's death…I almost lost it. She was such a sweet, beautiful woman full of life."

"What about my father?" Misuki asked. "If you were so close with my parents, why did you allow G.U.N. to put out a search and destroy on me and my father when he reactivated Shadow?"

"I didn't come into presidency until two years ago." He said to her. "The previous president declared the search on your father. When I read the file on it, my heart sank." He placed his hands on Misuki's shoulders. "I'm sorry for all of the heartache you had to go through."

"It's okay I guess." Misuki said. "I've been getting by just fine thanks to my friends…and Shadow of course." She looked into the president's eyes as her mind went completely blank for a while. The president walked over to the large window behind his desk and stared out into the city. Misuki joined him, feeling warmth in knowing that everything that was destroyed by the black aliens was being rebuilt.

Author's Note: Okay…final chapter will be up sometime after New Years ^^ Also, I found that my chapters were out of order because I forgot to upload chapter 25 *punches self in face* I fixed it. So if anyone was confused with the story, I am so sorry ^_^;

Please R&R


	30. Hero's Reward

**Thirty: Hero's Reward**

**Misuki: **"Mr. President, would it be alright if we go see Shadow?" Misuki asked him.

The president smiled at her, placing his hand around her shoulders. "Of course we can. Please come with me." He led Misuki out of the office. The hospital wing was on one of the lower levels of the white house.

"Sir, tell me a little about my mother." Misuki said as they walked through the hall. "What was she like in her youth?"

The president laughed as he re-visited his earlier years. "Well I can tell you that when I first met her, I had a crush on her."

"Really?"

"It wasn't hard to fall in love with her. Like you, she had a smile that brightened everything. She always worked hard and was friendly with almost everyone."

"My father always told me that I take after her when it came to making goals and doing what I had to do in order to achieve them."

He chuckled. "Even when she struggled, your mother never gave up."

"Did you ever ask her out?"

"Believe it or not I did. But it wasn't until our junior year of high school. Unfortunately she rejected me."

"How come?"

"Well…she said she didn't want to ruin our friendship. It was also because she didn't feel any kind of spark between us. But I was okay with it. We remained friends. But I was hoping that one day she would change her mind."

"But that day never came." Misuki said what he was thinking.

"Exactly. But when we entered college, our friendship grew to where we considered each other brother and sister. I made it a point to protect her from anyone or anything that wanted to harm her; she did the same for me. Even now…I can still see hear her sweet laughter."

"How did you introduce her to my dad?"

"Like I said before, I met your father when we joined the debate team. He said I looked familiar. We had a class together, but never spoke. After the tryouts, we decided to get to know each other. When I talked to him, I saw that he had qualities that were similar to your mother's. I introduced them in the middle of the second semester. They instantly clicked after talking for an hour. Then two months later, they started dating."

"You weren't jealous?"

"I hate to admit it, but yes." He admitted. "I was envious of your father. But their relationship never bothered me. As long as your mother was happy, I was happy. I did meet someone eventually. We always went on double dates whenever we could. After that relationship ended, your mother helped me find someone else."

Misuki realized that the relationship between her parents and the president was similar to her, Shadow and Knuckles. 'Like mother like daughter, I guess.' Misuki chuckled to herself.

"Here we are." They finally arrived at the hospital wing. The president opened the door so Misuki could go in.

When she did, Shadow was in the bed with bandages on his head, torso and arms. He smiled when he saw her. She smiled back and went over to him. "How are you feeling?" she asked him.

"A lot better." He told her. "They tested me to see if I suffered internal damage, but luckily I just came out with burn wounds. I'll be up and walking in no time."

"I'm so happy." Misuki hugged him gently so his wounds wouldn't sting.

"Shadow…" The president came in and approached them. "…let me start by saying that it is an honor to finally meet you. I also wanted to say thank you for everything you've done for this planet."

"I'm grateful, sir. But I don't deserve your praise."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"All of this is my fault. I believed Eggman's lies and helped him and Black Doom collect the Chaos Emeralds in order to take over the world. Not to mention I put Misuki and her friends in danger. I hurt a lot of people. Half of the casualties are because of me."

"No it's not, Shadow." Misuki told him, placing her hand over his. "Eggman and Black Doom both used you. Because you lost your memories, they filled your head with lies to get what they wanted. You're a hero, Shadow; you're my hero."

"There you are, Misuki!"

They all looked towards the door to see Amy, Cream, Cheese, Charmy, Sonic and Knuckles enter the room. Cream ran to Misuki and gave her a big hug. "We were so worried about you!" She said through tears.

"I'm glad you're safe too." Misuki said, hugging Cream tightly.

"You sure showed those black aliens what for!" Amy exclaimed while hugging Sonic. "I was afraid I'd never see any of you again! Now we can plan a future together, Sonic."

Sonic chuckled nervously as his face flushed red.

"Knuckles, thanks for having my back." Shadow said. "I owe you big time."

Knuckles and Shadow exchanged a fist pound. "Don't worry about it. What are friends for?"

Misuki smiled at the new friendship Knuckles and Shadow created.

**Several Months later**

After lots of hard work and charitable donations from other states and countries, New York was rebuilt better than before. Everyone gathered in town square to thank Misuki and her friends for saving the planet. Fireworks were shot through the air and balloons decorated the stage as the president came up to the podium to introduce the gang. "My fellow Americans! We have been through much hardship. As your president, I wish to apologize for not being able to protect you. I make it a point to make everyone a top priority when it comes to terrorists threatening our peace. However, we do have some heroes here that deserve praise for destroying the black aliens and saving the entire planet! Please help me welcome them as they join us here to receive their Medals of Honor!"

Everyone cheered and applauded as Misuki, Shadow and the others stepped onto the stage. They waved to the crowd with pleased expressions. Misuki and Shadow held hands, their fingers twined together.

The president raised his hands to calm the cheering down until it ceased. "Let us all give thanks to these brave heroes!" He gestured Misuki to come forward and speak for them.

Misuki hesitated for a while. She and Shadow approached the podium. "We gratefully accept this award, and we are all happy that all of you came out here to honor us! But the real hero out of us all is Shadow. He bravely went up into space and confronted the alien leader. Everyone give a round of applause for Shadow!" Everyone clapped and cheered for Shadow. Misuki watched his face turn red as he waved to the crowd.

"Now without further ado, I would like to give you all medals as a way to thank you for saving the planet and helping restore New York to its glory!"

The president gave everyone individual medals. After placing the medals around their necks, he shook hands with everyone. The camera crew made sure to get good shots of that moment as flashes of light came from every direction. The crowd cheered harder after Misuki and the others had their awards. "And now, the Commander of G.U.N. would like to say a few words. Step forth, Commander!"

The president stepped aside to let the Commander make a speech. "I would first like to give my thanks to Shadow and his friends for helping defeat the black aliens. I would also like to give an apology to Shadow and Misuki." He looked back at the two of them. "Misuki, I am sincerely sorry for causing you trouble in the past and issuing a search and kill on you, your father and Shadow. From this day forward, G.U.N. is in your debt. Whatever you need, we will provide. Also with your permission, we would like to continue some of your father's unfinished experiments."

Everyone awaited my response. I really didn't know what my dad was working on after he locked Shadow in the pod, but I'm sure he had the world's best interests at heart. "I shall approve of it, provided I be permitted to look at my father's notes and be in charge of seeing their completion."

"I will allow it."

"Then I accept. Thank you, Commander." They shook hands as the T.V. cameras captured the moment.

"Finally I would like to properly welcome Shadow to the G.U.N. force and give him the position of secret agent."

Rouge approached Shadow and gave him a G.U.N. badge of his own. "Congratulations, Shadow. You and I are officially partners."

Shadow and Rouge shook hands. "I'm looking forward to working with you." After shaking hands with Rouge, Shadow shook hands with the Commander as the crowd continued cheering for them.

"Once again, we thank you for your bravery and hope you will continue to protect us if another threat shows its face on planet Earth!" The president said over the people cheering.

"You know Shadow…I really enjoyed that kiss you gave me before going off to battle." Misuki said to him.

Shadow smiled as he pulled her closer to him. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Misuki giggled as she held onto him. "Now let me return the favor." Misuki pressed her lips against Shadow's and kissed him in front of everyone. The cheering grew louder and more cameras went off, capturing their passionate moment. The only thing they had to worry about was what Eggman was planning. Whatever it was, they could handle it quickly and take him down with force.

**The End**

**Coming Soon: **"Chaos Nazo" A creature born from negative energy threatens the entire planet. With the help of a mysterious celestial being, Misuki and the gang must gather all of their strength to protect the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald…and change the events of the future.

Coming in February 2013!


End file.
